Bows, Swords, Lightning Bolts, Oh My!
by ArtemisFrimm
Summary: Artemis has been blamed for a crime in Olympus and is sentenced to three months at camp half-blood. But when Zeus's master-bolt is stolen again and Artemis is blamed, Percy must help her recover it. Rechanged back.
1. Percy's Dream

Hi thank you for reading my story. I kinda edited some of this so it may seem a little bit different (hopefully better) I really like reviews (preferably nice ones) **I DO NOT OWN ANY CHARACTERS (SADLY) **Story from Percy's POV  
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I'm always having dreams about people, but this dream was, for lack of a better term, definitely different.

In my dream, Artemis, goddess of the hunt, moon, and maidens, was standing in her father Zeus's throne room, before the Lord of the Sky, Lord Zeus himself.

She had a defiant look in her eyes, and I could tell that she and Lord Zeus had been arguing over something. They began to speak.

"…can't believe you would do that." Zeus was saying.

"I would never do that to Aphrodite." Artemis argued, "We may disagree a lot, but that doesn't mean that I would attack her. That's crazy." Artemis insisted, "And you can prove that I didn't attack her when she recovers. She'll tell you _really _attacked her, and then you'll know in wasn't me."

"Yes," Zeus mused, "She is waking up right now actually. I sent Hera down to ask her who attacked her."

Artemis looked outraged, "But Hera will do anything to get me out of Olympus! She'll lie, or blackmail Aphrodite into saying it was me!"

Zeus narrowed his eyes, "Artemis," he said sharply, causing Artemis to flinch, "Hera is my wife and the Queen among the immortals, you had best learn to show her some respect."

Artemis looked ready to argue, but Hera entered the room breaking her train of thought.

Hera took her seat next to her husband, and shot a glare at Artemis before saying, "Aphrodite is recovering, thanks to Apollo."

Zeus smiled with relief, "That is good news. Did she, by any chance, mention who attacked her?" he asked.

Hera tried to look as upset as possible (without really succeeding) and said, "Unfortunately she told me that your daughter Artemis, did in fact, attack her."

Zeus looked dumb-struck (please, by the way, don't tell him I said that, I'd really like to live to finish my story so…). He gazed sadly at Artemis, who looked ready to cry.

"But, but, Dad, please I…"

Zeus silenced her with the raise of his hand, "Artemis, as much as I want to believe you, everything is pointing at you. I mean, you were standing next to her when after she had been attacked, and now she says that you attacked her." He said, closing his eyes with grief, "For your punishment, you will spend the next three months at Camp Half-Blood."

"No, please Dad I hate it there." Artemis begged.

Hera looked a little disappointed by the punishment, but obviously pleased that Artemis would be miserable, "You heard your father. Three months at camp. In fact, I honestly don't think that's all that long for an immortal being like yourself. In fact, if I could choose your punishment, I would make you stay there for hmm…maybe three hundred years instead of just three months." She said, smirking slightly.

Zeus looked at Hera and said, "Dear, I really think that three hundred years is a bit extreme. Aphrodite is immortal after all and we knew she would recover quickly. I think we'll stick with three months for the time being."

Artemis shot a half-satisfied glare at her stepmother before turning her attention back to her father, "Please dad, those annoying campers will drive me insane. And what about my hunters?" she argued.

"I'm sure your lieutenant Thalia will be able to manage your hunters while you are away." Zeus answered calmly, "You'll leave at the end of this week."

Artemis, obviously knowing that she couldn't change his mind, turned and walked towards the door, trying to hide the silvery tears that slid down her cheek.

I knew that there was probably more to my dream, but my half-brother, Tyson must have been having a bad dream, because I woke up to him throwing his over-stuffed pillow at me.

I groaned, and looked up at the cabin ceiling. I had a feeling that the next few months at camp would definitely be far from normal**

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Hi thanks for reading this far. I will most likely post the next chapter some time this week (or sooner) **(positive)** Reviews make me 8~D  
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	2. More Dreams

Hola! I finally finished this chapter. I hope you enjoy, it was really hard to come up with the right words to fit in. I enjoy (nice) reviews. Thanx!!!

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I wanted desperately to talk to Annabeth to get her opinion on my dream, but she was spending her winter break in Olympus, helping her mother redesign the buildings and monuments that were destroyed during the war against Kronos. I suppose that the next best person to talk to would be Grover. I found him chatting happily with his girlfriend Juniper and a few other nymphs.

He spotted me and motioned for me to join him. I walked over.

"Hey Grover," I said. I looked over at the nymphs, "Umm, do you think I could talk to you alone?" I asked him.

Grover looked over at his nymph friends, "Uh yea, hang on," he turned to Juniper, "Hey Juniper I need to talk to Percy for a minute. In private." He added noticing that none of the nymphs had gotten up to leave.

A few of the nymphs grumbled at me, but they all left anyway.

Grover turned to me, "So what's up Percy?" he asked.

"Umm," _this was going to be harder than I thought,_ "Umm, well I had a really weird dream last night, and I was wondering if Chiron mentioned anything about umm, uh, an important guest visiting Camp Half-Blood for the winter."

Grover looked at me funny, "What do you mean by 'important guest'" he asked.

"Uhh, well, umm, 'important guest' as in maybe a goddess." I said, struggling for the right words to say.

Grover looked at me some more. I could tell he was trying to read my emotions through the empathy-link he had set up a few years back. "Umm, which goddess do you mean exactly?" Grover asked.

"Umm, the goddess that all satyrs have a huge crush on." I answered him quickly.

Grover's jaw dropped, "Lady Artemis is staying at Camp?" he asked dreamily.

I sighed. It was going to be difficult to talk to him when he was in his own little Grover-World, "She might be." I said slowly, not wanting to get his hopes up based on some weird dream I had.

Grover frowned, "What exactly happened in your dream Percy?" he asked.

I told him, and when I was finished Grover was still frowning, "That's odd." He said slowly, "Artemis and Aphrodite have always been, umm, a little _different_ from one another, but they both seemed to have umm, a little _mutual respect_ for each other. I could never picture Artemis attacking Aphrodite, that's just…So unlike her." He finished (Sounding a little too dreamily at the end).

"Yea that's kind of what I was thinking too. Zeus thought that sounded a little far-fetched too, but went with the evidence that pointed against her." I said.

"So now Artemis is coming here?" Grover finished.

"Maybe," I added.

Grover sighed as he watched as a few small snowflakes fell from the sky, melting before they hit the earth.

"Did you talk to Chiron about your dream?" Grover asked, breaking the silence.

"No." I admitted, "But it was probably just another weird dream. Maybe I ate some bad pizza." I suggested.

Grover cracked a mischievous grin before pointing out, "The food here is never bad." He said.

I smiled too, knowing that that was probably the worst excuse a camper could come up with, but I decided to keep joking around, "I don't know," I said grinning, "The pizza certainly didn't taste normal, and I think Mr. D may have spiked the soda last night."

Grover laughed, "Oh yea, like Chiron wouldn't have noticed a bunch of drunk half-bloods wandering around camp."

I laughed at the thought of camp if that were to ever happened, "You know," I added, "If we were to get drunk though, it would definitely keep the monsters away."

Grover shook his head laughing, "Wow Percy." He said grinning.

Dinner was the same as usual. Naturally the food was delicious, but I couldn't help but laugh when I saw Grover up at the staff table sniffing the cola, obviously checking it to make sure it was alcohol-free.

After dinner, we had the camp sing-along, and shortly after a few songs (led by the Apollo cabin) about some heroes from Sparta, I went to bed. I was so tired and happy, that I was expecting a calm, dreamless sleep. Once again, I was wrong.

In my dream, a small, silver doe was walking besides a startling, white stallion. I know that it probably seems like a strange dream, but what's really weird is that I remember the same horse from a dream that I had back when I first learned that I was a half-blood. The animals were walking contently until the doe stopped in her tracks. A colossal peacock stood in the two animals' way. It was glaring at them murderously. It stalked up to the stallion and the doe, barely blinking, until the stallion reared up on the peacock and nearly knocking the beautiful creature to the ground. The peacock let out a terrifying screech, and a large hell-hound looking creature ran out from the woods behind the peacock and launched itself at the beautiful horse. It clawed down the stallion's side before changing targets, and aiming for the doe. As the animals continued to fight with each other, I vaguely remember hearing the screech of a large golden eagle that was watching the speculation from an overhanging tree branch. Watching with its sad, confused eyes.

That's when I woke up. I realized that I was drenched in sweat and shaking.

"Mmm, Percy, go to bed." I heard Tyson say groggily.

I didn't say anything, but instead, slipped on my sneakers and orange Camp Half-Blood sweatshirt, and crept out of our cabin and made my way towards the Big House.

I needed to tell Chiron about my dreams. They were kind of freaking me out, and I couldn't help but think that they were all related.

When I reached the Big House, I was about to knock, when I realized that the window was open, and I could distinctly hear three voices arguing.

I peeked through the window and saw Mr. D, Chiron, and an Iris-Message of Zeus talking to each-other.

Zeus looked similar to the time I had seen him in Mount Olympus, after we had defeated Kronos; as usual, he was stressed out. Chiron had a look of concern on his face, and Dionysus looked bored, sitting in a big, cushy-looking chair, drinking a Coca-Cola.

I heard Dionysus speak, "But Dad, she can't stay here. She and her hunters drive me insane. And she'll never get it through her immortal head that I'm the counselor of this camp, which technically means I'm in charge of all of the brats that stay at this camp, her included." Mr. D pouted.

Zeus sighed, he had obviously had this conversation before, "Dionysus, first of all, Artemis is coming alone. She won't have any hunters with her. Secondly, I assure you that I informed her of your position at the camp-"

"That you so graciously bestowed upon me," Dionysus added sarcastically.

Zeus glared at his youngest son, "Anyways, I assure you that she knows that you and Chiron are in charge of the camp." Zeus said warily.

"So how'd she react when you told her she'd have to spend the next few months here?" Mr. D asked eagerly.

"Mr. D, I really don't think it really matters." Chiron said, but Dionysus continued on,

"You know Dad; I think three months is way to short. I mean, I'm here for fifty years for chasing an off-limits wood nymph, and she attacks another immortal and only gets sentenced here for a few months? I think that's bull-"

"What are you doing?" Came a quiet voice from behind me. I about jumped out of my skin. I unsheathed Riptide, and whipped it in the direction I had heard the voice come from. Luckily thousands of years of hunting kept the owner of the voice from being sliced in half by Riptide.

Artemis arched an eyebrow at me, and had an amused gleam in her silvery eyes, "You know," she said, "by reacting like that you look extremely guilty of something."

I re-sheathed Riptide quickly, "I'm so, so sorry." I stuttered.

She seemed to ignore me, "Eavesdropping on someone in the Big House?" she asked curiously.

"Uhh, no, umm, I was going to talk to Chiron." I managed to say.

"Uh, huh." The goddess said, obviously not believing me. She looked ready to say more, but just then, the Big House door swung open. Chiron stood in the doorway.

He smiled when he saw Artemis, "Ah, Artemis you made it I see." Artemis didn't seem to be paying any attention to Chiron, she was to busy looking over his shoulder at the Iris-Message from her father. Zeus nodded his head in acknowledgement to her, and then swiped his hand through the message, disconnecting it.

Artemis's attention snapped back towards Chiron, "Oh, hello Chiron." She said politely, but still looking slightly distracted.

"Come on in then." Chiron said. He looked at me, "Percy what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Uh, I, umm, I had to talk to you about something." I muttered, "But it can wait until tomorrow." I said turning to go.

"Percy wait, come on in. I heard that the harpies have been a bit more moody lately, and aren't tolerating campers out of bed after curfew, and it would be a shame to find nothing but your bones by morning."

"Oh yea, cause that would be tragic." Dionysus said sarcastically.

Chiron ignored him, "You should come in." he glanced at Artemis who had taken a seat as far away from Dionysus as possible, "We won't take long." He said.

I nodded my head, and followed him inside.

"Now, Artemis," Chiron said, getting down to business, "Since your going to be here for a little while, we might as well make use of your archery skills."

Artemis arched an eyebrow at him challengingly.

Chiron sighed, "I meant," he continued, "Maybe you could help teach the archery class. Since Annabeth is in Olympus, I don't have anyone teaching Ancient Greek, so I'll have to fill that position full-time for now, and won't have time to teach both classes at once."

Artemis thought for a minute, "Sure." She answered, "Is that all?" she asked, getting up and heading towards the door.

"Artemis, by teaching the class, you'll have to be fair to all of the students." Chiron warned.

Artemis shrugged, "That's fine." She said.

Chiron sighed, "That includes the boys too." He said, sounding half-amused.

Artemis froze.

"That won't be a problem will it?" Chiron asked.

Artemis thought for a moment and sighed, "Chiron," she said, "If they won't give me problems, then I won't give them any."

Chiron smiled, "Fair enough. You know where to find your cabin then I assume." He said.

Artemis nodded and walked out the door.

Chiron turned his attention back towards me, "So what was it you wanted to talk to me about Percy?" he asked.

"Uh, I think Tyson will need a bigger bed, umm, he keeps falling out his bed onto the floor." I half-lied (it was a half-lie because that really wasn't what I was going to tell Chiron about, but it was true that Tyson kept falling out of bed). I decided that telling Chiron about my dream where a bunch of animals were attacking each other would sound pretty lame. Besides, it could've been just that; a dream.

Chiron furrowed his brow, "We'll see what we can do for your brother Percy, but are you sure that's all you wanted to talk to me about?" he questioned.

I shifted my feet, "Yea, I'm sure." I mumbled.

"All right." Chiron said, obviously not believing me, "You can go back to your cabin. Just be wary of the harpies." He warned.

I nodded and headed back to my cabin miserably. One good thing about tomorrow though; I don't have archery tomorrow. So no chance for me looking like a fool.

Once again, I was dead wrong.

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Hi! I'm done. I hope you liked it. If you have anything to point out, please do (just be nice about it). Thank you for reading. Your reviews make me 8~D


	3. Bows, Swords, and Capturetheflag

Well I finally finished this chapter. Sorry it took so long. I had to go to a funeral so I was away from home for a while. I made it longer than I usually do, so I hope this makes up for my absence! ~enjoy~

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When I got back to my cabin, I fell asleep quickly. Thankfully I didn't have any dreams to interrupt my peaceful sleep.

I woke up the next morning feeling better than I had in a while, and after breakfast I was looking forward to sword fighting. It was my favorite class, and one of the only classes at camp that I was good at. Unfortunately though, I think Mr. D made the schedules for this year, because this year I got scheduled with the Hermes, Hecate and Ares cabins. The Hermes kids I didn't mind too much, unless they tried to steal my shield, or armor. It was the Ares cabin I had a problem with. Since they were in the class, they made sure that Clarisse taught the class instead of me. When I walked into the sword-arena I saw that not only did I have Clarisse in my class, but Artemis was in my class, and had obviously formed some sort of alliance with Clarisse.

_ Great,_ I muttered under my breath.

"Ok, today we're going to be pairing up." Clarisse bellowed to the class, "So everyone find a partner." She said.

As usual, the Ares kids paired up with each other, the Hecate kids paired up with each other, the Hermes kids paired up, and I was left with my choice of partner of either Artemis or some new undetermined camper who was placed in the Hermes cabin until she was claimed. The girl looked about ten or eleven, with short brown hair, and emerald green eyes.

I decided I'd partner up with the undetermined girl. Maybe I'd be able to give her some advice, and I wouldn't have to risk getting flayed by Artemis. After I saw her fight the Titan, Atlas, I had a feeling that fighting me would be all too easy.

I walked up to the undetermined camper.

"Hi." I greeted her, "I'm Percy."

Her green eyes sparkled, "Oh my gods! You're Percy! You like defeated Kronos!" she squealed, "I'm Katrina, but my friends call me Kat." She said excitedly.

I wasn't really sure how to react, "Uh, ok then. Well I'll help you with your-"

I was interrupted by Clarisse who had walked over and tapped me on the shoulder. "Percy Jackson, what do you think you're doing?" she asked me coldly.

"Oh, well I was going to-"

Clarisse made a face at me, "Aw, is baby Percy afraid of fighting someone his own size? How cute." Clarisse mocked.

I could feel my face turning red, "Well why don't you fight me then?" I asked furiously.

"I can't. I'm working with Marcus on his-"

I cut Clarisse off before she could finish her excuse, "Aw, is Clarisse afraid of fighting someone shorter than her? How cute." I imitated.

Clarisse's face turned beet red, but before she could start yelling at me, Artemis walked forward, "Well, Clarisse since your busy with Marcus, and you think Percy should go against someone who is more of a challenge, why don't I go against him?" she suggested coyly.

_Crap!_ I thought.

Clarisse's face twisted into a grin, and she looked over at Artemis as if she had just suggested that we celebrate Christmas early, "That's a great idea." She smiled.

_Great,_ I thought, _Not only do I get pummeled, but Clarisse gets to watch my humiliation too._

"So half-blood," Artemis said, looking at me with her silver eyes, "Do you challenge me?" she asked. In that moment, I realized that, even though she was a camper, she was still constrained by the ancient laws. If I wanted to, I could just say 'no' and she would walk away without giving it a second thought. I looked into her eyes. They gleamed with excitement, not malice.

_Maybe I'll actually live to see lunch, _I thought rather relieved, "I guess I'll do it." I said, trying to sound brave.

Clarisse grinned, "Great! Get ready for a fight!" she said giddily.

I tried to look braver than I felt but I must not have been doing a very good job, because Artemis walked up to me and muttered, "Relax, I'm not going to kill you."

"Ok hero and goddess, grab your swords and let's see a clean fight." Clarisse said.

Artemis pulled out her sword. It was a lot shorter than Riptide, which meant that she'd have to move in a lot closer to hit me, but that also meant that she'd be able to move around a lot easier and with more grace, since she didn't have to worry about balancing the weight of a larger sword.

By now, a group of campers had come to watch the fight. They were all circled around the arena, giving Artemis and me enough space to fight.

"OKAY! GET READY! FIGHT!!!" Clarisse bellowed.

Artemis began circling me like a cat would circle its prey. That thought didn't really reassure me.

I noticed that her left side wasn't as guarded as her right, so I lunged. Unfortunately she was a lot quicker than I thought. She blocked my attack, and lunged for my stomach. (By the way, don't try this at home! Us kids at camp are trained demi-gods wearing armor. So once again, don't try this at home!) I blocked her attack, and feinted to her left, but did a 360 at the last minute, and lunged for her right shoulder. I almost got her, but like I said, she was fast.

Artemis seemed to realize how close that had been also, because suddenly, her attacks came a lot quicker, and with more precision. Before I knew it, my sword had been knocked out of my hand, and she had her blade aimed at my throat.

Artemis was breathing heavily, but she had a satisfied smile on her face. She had won. She backed up after a few seconds, and tossed me Riptide (in pen form). She pressed down on a small silver crescent on her sword, and it shrank into a small hairclip. I realized that the whole arena was silent. _Wow, that must have been one heck of a fight, based on the way they're staring._ I thought to myself. Clarisse broke the silence, "HA! DID YOU SEE THAT! JACKSON GOT HIS BUTT WHIPPED BY A GIRL!" she and most of the arena laughed.

I felt my face turn red. Leave it to stupid Clarisse to make a fool out of me. Fortunately, the bell rang, telling us that we had to go to our next class.

I gathered my stuff together. I turned around, and was surprised to see that, besides me, Artemis was the only one left in the arena. She studied me, like she had the first time I had met her, before looking me in the eye.

I decided to try to break the semi-awkward silence, "Uh, nice job." I told her.

She nodded, "You fight pretty well. For a hero." She smirked semi-playfully.

_Hmm, two can play at that game,_ "And you fight well for a girl." I smirked.

"Watch it Perseus," she warned, "I may be sentenced to this gods forsaken camp, but I am still a goddess, and can still curse you." She joked.

I smiled, "Yea, well, I have to get to my next class."

"Oh yes." She said rolling her eyes, "I have to go teach archery to the Iris and Hermes cabins, so I probably shouldn't be late. Chiron would have my head. So see ya around." She said, and she walked off towards her next class.

It took me a few minutes to process what had just happened. Somehow, I had just formed some sort of alliance with the goddess of the hunt. I sighed, being a half-blood, stranger things had happened.

My next few classes were uneventful. But at dinner, I found out I had something to look forward to. Chiron had announced that capture-the-flag was tomorrow. It was the Apollo cabin versus the Athena cabin. Normally since Annabeth is in the Athena cabin, I side with them, but Matt, the newest cabin leader for the Apollo cabin, had asked me if I wanted to be on his team, so I agreed. I was pretty excited it, but I remembered I had archery tomorrow. I wasn't super worried about Artemis teaching the class, I'm just not good at archery at all, and I'd end up looking even worse compared to the Apollo cabin, who (thanks Mr. D.) were in my class.

After dinner we all went to the campfire and the Apollo cabin led the sing-along singing modern songs like Poker Face by Lady Gaga. It was very bizarre, but we also got to make s'mores so that was good. Artemis was chatting with a girl from the Apollo cabin about archery, Clarisse was threatening a little son of Iris for spilling his coke on her lap, and Tyson was telling Chiron about the shield he made in the forgery, basically every thing was pretty normal, but for some reason I felt nervous about something. I couldn't stop thinking about the dream I had last night. I was so distracted that I didn't notice the undetermined camper, Katrina, sit next to me.

"Hi Percy!" she beamed.

I was brought out of my trance, "Oh, hi Kat." I said. She squealed as if she was just given a puppy.

"What?" I asked her, slightly startled by the loud squeal. Apparently she startled some of the other campers as well, because a few of the campers glared at us.

"Only my friends call me Kat! That means we must be friends!" she smiled.

"Oh, ok then." I said. I heard some snickers from some of the Hermes campers.

Katrina decided to not notice, and continued talking, "That was a really amazing fight Percy. I honestly thought you were going to beat Artemis." She said, "I wish you would've won. That would have shown that Artemis that she isn't perfect like she thinks she is." Katrina said grumpily. Before I could respond, Katrina kept talking, "She was so rude to me during my archery lesson today. She yelled at me because I missed the target." She huffed.

Travis Stoll decided to join in on our conversation, "Katrina, she yelled at you because you almost shot an arrow through her head." Travis grinned.

"So… she didn't have to be so rude about it." Katrina pouted.

Travis ignored her, "So Percy, I heard you have archery tomorrow." He grinned.

"Yea, how was it?" I asked him.

"It was pretty cool. Artemis made this one shot that probably could have made Apollo himself jealous. She showed us this awesome technique and everyone was able to hit the target. But the best part of the class was probably when Connor got busted for trying to steal one of her arrows. She probably would have strangled him if the dinner bell hadn't of rang. I've never seen Connor so ashamed of attempted-theft in his life." Travis grinned.

"Oh, so it wasn't bad?" I asked.

"Nope, in fact, I bet that she could even teach _you_ how to hit the target." Travis said.

"Gee, thanks." I said sarcastically.

Travis shrugged, "Hey it's not my fault you really suck at archery."

We continued talking for a while until Chiron announced that it was time for bed. I was exhausted, and actually fell asleep without a strange dream that night.

After breakfast the next day, I headed down to the archery range. The morning was colder than usual, and snow had dusted the grounds during the night. When I got to the archery range, a few of the Apollo kids were practicing (or showing off) their archery skills, and Artemis was talking to Matt and Sonny (I know ironic considering her dad is the god of the sun). They were talking about the teams for capture-the-flag tonight.

Matt noticed me, "Oh hey Percy. Lady Artemis is going to be on our team for capture-the-flag! With her on our team, we'll crush those Athena kids." Artemis smiled, "You do realize that I can only be on your team if Chiron says it's alright. He may say it would be unfair." Artemis pointed out.

Sonny looked slightly annoyed, "Yea, and besides, we'd beat the Athena kids with or without Lady Artemis on our team. Remember we came up with that plan that would-"

Artemis decided to interrupt before Sonny and Matt began fighting, "Well I should probably start the class." She said.

I nodded my head in agreement. The Apollo kids were usually pretty laid-back, but when they began arguing, it wouldn't take long before one of them pulled out a bow, and then they began seriously fighting each other.

"Okay, well, I'd like to see each of you shoot so I'll be able to see where or if you need any improvement." Artemis told the class.

The Apollo cabin began firing arrows flawlessly at the targets. Artemis would occasionally give them a few pointers, but otherwise I could tell that she was genuinely impressed with her brother's children. With me though, it was a totally different story. I could tell that she was trying pretty hard not to laugh as I tried to notch my arrow.

"Having a little trouble?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady, even though I heard a slight giggle in it.

I tried not to act embarrassed, "Um, just a little." I said, trying to ignore the snickers from some of the Apollo kids.

"Here, watch me." She said. She notched her arrow smoothly, and I realized what I did wrong. "Now you try." She told me.

I notched my arrow. Not nearly as smoothly as she had, but it felt a lot more natural than it had when I had tried notching it before.

"Okay, good-ish, now pull it back as far as you can." Artemis instructed.

I wrapped my fingers around the arrow and pulled it back as far as I could. My knuckles began to turn white from gripping the arrow so hard.

"Okay, loosen your fingers a bit, and make sure you're only holding the arrow from the tips of your fingers." She said.

I loosened up, and slid my fingers back so I was holding onto the arrow from my fingertips.

I became conscious of the fact that the whole Apollo cabin was watching me also. I closed one eye, and began to aim at the target.

I was about to release the arrow when I heard Artemis say, "Open both of your eyes. It will improve your aim ten-fold." She instructed.

I did, and noticed how off my aim would have been if I had kept one eye closed. I repositioned my aim, and released the arrow. It whizzed through the air and hit the outer ring of the target. Everyone was shell-shocked. I had managed to hit the target. The Apollo cabin suddenly began applauding.

"Way to go Percy!" Matt congratulated, "We may make an archer out of you yet!"

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As I walked down towards the creek for capture-the-flag, I still couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that I had actually enjoyed archery more than sword fighting this week. I still used Riptide as my weapon-of-choice for capture-the-flag though. I still didn't feel super comfortable using a bow, and I was playing offense. If I were to run into an Ares kid (who had sided with the Athena cabin) I figured a sword would work better to my advantage than a bow would.

I walked towards the middle of the creek where Chiron was reminding everyone of the rules. Artemis had been allowed to play, but she had to use a sword instead of a bow and arrows. I figured it probably wouldn't make much of a difference though after seeing her precision with a sword during our fight at the arena.

Matt ran forward to greet me, "Hey Percy, you ready to show those Athena kids whose boss?" he asked me eagerly.

I grinned, "Duh!"

We all took our positions. On our team we had the Apollo cabin, the Hermes cabin, the Hades cabin (basically just Nico), the Iris cabin, the Demeter cabin, and Artemis. We placed our flag on top of Zeus's fist.

"Why is it called Zeus's fist?" Artemis asked jogging to catch up to me.

"Because if you look at it at a certain angle, it looks like a giant fist coming out of the ground." I told her.

She tilted her head to the side and scrunched her eyes, obviously trying to see the 'fist'.

"That's a really odd name for it. From this angle it just looks like giant deer droppings." She said.

I had to bite my lip to stop from laughing. I had a feeling that Zeus wouldn't mind too much if Artemis said it looked like deer poop, but I had a feeling that if I laughed, he probably wouldn't hesitate to electrify me then and there.

"CAMPERS TAKE YOUR POSITIONS!" Chiron shouted, "GET READY, GO!!!" he shouted.

Artemis and I sprinted over the creek into enemy territory. She headed left and I headed right. I could hear some campers fighting in the distance.

I continued running until I was about 30 feet away from the Athena flag. It was too easy. There were no guards, no nothing. I had known Annabeth long enough to know that the Athena cabin must have had something planned. I waited until I saw Artemis, Travis, and Katrina walk cautiously into the clearing. Our plan was simple; Artemis, Travis, and Katrina would try to act like a bigger threat and distract the other team, and I would sneak around and grab the flag.

Artemis snuck up closer to the flag, and a huge Ares kid followed by three Athena kids jumped out of the overhanging trees. The Ares kid pulled out his big spear and began charging at Artemis, who had pulled out her sword and had begun to retreat into the forest. Travis and Katrina began sprinting away from the Athena kids who followed them.

_Hmm, they aren't as smart as Annabeth. She would have realized what we were doing._ I thought to myself. I ran forward and snatched the flag out from the ground. I sprinted as fast as I could towards the creek. I was almost there when I was lifted up off the ground and thrown into a tree. A daughter of Hecate was smirking at me as she walked forward casually and picked up the Athena flag that I had dropped during my little 'flight'. I tried to act dazed, and was apparently doing a pretty good job too, because before the Hecate girl could say 'magic' I had tackled her to the ground and stolen the flag from her. I crossed the creek and heard an explosion of cheers from my teammates. Matt came forwards and clapped me on the back (which kind of hurt after being flung into a tree), Katrina was dancing like she had to go to the bathroom, and even Artemis was cheering. Nothing could have ruined that moment… except Chiron coming into the clearing with a grim look on his face.

He glanced at Artemis and then his gaze shifted towards me, "Cabin leaders are needed at the Big House ASAP for an emergency meeting."

_Uh Oh…

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_Well I hope you enjoyed this. As always I luv pleasant reviews... Tell me what'cha think! 8~D


	4. The council meeting

Heyy, I finished this chapter (yay!!!) I know it's a lot shorter than the last one, but I have a long chapter 5 planned so keep read and reviewing! I luv nice reviews. Oh by the way, I do not own any PJO characters, kinda sad, I know, but what can ya do... hehehe, please review!!!  


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When all of the cabin leaders (plus Grover) were in the basement of the Big House, Chiron began the meeting. He looked extremely grim.

"Heroes, and immortals," Chiron said, looking quickly at Artemis and then at Dionysus who was flipping casually through a wine connoisseur magazine. "I have called you all here today to deliver some grave news."

The campers glanced at each other nervously before Clarisse spoke up, "What's the problem Chiron?"

Chiron sighed, "Zeus's master bolt has been stolen."

"Again?" Artemis asked loudly. Everyone including Chiron and Mr. D looked at her. She blushed slightly and sat back down in her seat.

Chiron cleared his throat, breaking the awkward silence, "Yes, Lord Zeus's master bolt has been stolen again."

"Who stole it?" Matt asked.

Chiron shifted uncomfortably and said, "Well, right now there are two suspects."

"Who are they?" Artemis asked, recovering quickly from her embarrassment.

"Well, right now, the only two suspects are you and Mr. Jackson." Chiron said.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was so stunned that I couldn't speak, fortunately lady Artemis spoke almost as if she were reading my mind. Almost…

"What!?" Artemis shouted, "Why would I be blamed for stealing my own father's master bolt?" she asked.

"Well, some of the gods are pointing fingers. Hera and Aphrodite 'think' that you, lady Artemis, stole Zeus's symbol of power, and Ares and Hades are pointing fingers at you, Percy." Chiron explained.

Artemis glared at me accusingly._ So much for allies._ I thought bitterly. "But even if I had planned on stealing the bolt, _I _wouldn't be able to. It's against ancient laws. Did that ever occur to Lady Hera and Lady Aphrodite?" Artemis asked coldly.

I could understand by the tone of her voice where this was going, "Oh, so you're blaming me then?" I asked the twelve-year-old goddess coldly.

"Well, you were the one who stole it last time." Dionysus pointed out without even looking up from his magazine. Artemis nodded her head in half-agreement.

I had hit my boiling point, "I DIDN' STEAL IT LAST TIME! THAT WAS LUKE WORKING FOR KRONOS."

Artemis glanced at me, obviously surprised by my outburst, but turned her attention back to Chiron, "What does my brother think?" she asked, "And Athena, and the other Olympians?"

"Apollo, Demeter, and some of the other minor gods and goddess have opted to 'stay out of it' for as long as necessary." Chiron said.

"Thanks bro." Artemis muttered sarcastically under her breath.

Chiron continued, "As for Lady Athena, she feels that it be logical to point fingers at you two." Artemis scowled, and I couldn't blame her. Athena never has favored me very much due to the fact that she and my dad are pretty much enemies. Before Artemis could start arguing Chiron continued, "She feels that you both are pretty impulsive, and mildly hot-tempered."

"I am not-" Artemis argued, but Chiron cut her off,

"Artemis, please let me finish. She feels that you two would be likely suspects, but," he added before Artemis could cut him off again, "she also feels that you both are innocent."

I let out a sigh of relief. Artemis also looked slightly relieved. But, one thing was bothering me and I had to know, "What does my father think?" I asked.

"Poseidon thinks that the arguing Olympians, quoting Lord Poseidon exactly, 'Must have some rotten fish guts for brains'." Chiron said his lips twitching into a brief smile.

I smiled too. My dad sure had a way with words.

Artemis still looked curious, "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Lord Poseidon was very furious to hear the immortals blaming Percy for the theft again. He also feels, Artemis, that you are no more so guilty than Percy." Chiron said.

"Oh. That's good then." I said slowly.

"Not exactly," Chiron said, "There's the matter of finding the bolt."

"Well we obviously don't have it." Artemis said.

Chiron grimaced, "Yes, but try convincing the other gods that."

"Yea." Mr. D said, "I'm still not a hundred percent convinced that neither of you has it."

Artemis looked like she was going to pull out her bow and start firing arrows at Dionysus.

"Well what are we supposed to do then Chiron?" I asked.

Chiron sighed, "Zeus demands that you both bring back the master bolt by the winter solstice otherwise he fears that a war will break out amongst the Olympians, again."

"But Chiron, we don't have the master bolt." Artemis argued.

"I'm aware of that, but it will be up to you two to find it." Chiron exasperated.

"So we're going on a quest?" I asked.

Chiron nodded.

"Wait a minute. He's a boy!" Artemis argued, "I can't travel with him. Chiron, why doesn't he just stay here and train, while I go find the master bolt. It would be a shame to lose another camper on a quest."

Chiron sighed, "Artemis, as much as I agree with you, Lord Zeus demands that Percy be part of the quest."

"Wait, does that mean we'll have to visit Rachel?" I asked.

Let me explain, you see, our last oracle was this dried up mummy from the 60s and after the battle against Kronos, Rachel, a mortal friend of mine, became the new Oracle.

Chiron nodded, "Miss Dare should be spending her winter break with her parents."

"What do we do after that?" Artemis asked, still sounding unhappy about traveling with me.

"After that, you follow the prophecy to the master bolt. Lady Artemis, I assume you won't have a whole lot of trouble deciphering your brother's prophecy, right?" Chiron said.

Artemis shook her head, "Chiron, I have enough trouble understanding his annoying haikus. His prophecies have never played out like I thought they would, so there's no telling what surprises my brother will throw into his prophecy."

Chiron's face twitched in concern for a moment, but he decided to keep things positive for our sake, "Well, I have no doubt that you will figure out where the master bolt is before the winter solstice. So you better go pack and go to bed early, you're in for a long day tomorrow."

I groaned and stood up. Once again I was considered the 'Lightning Thief'. On my way back to my cabin, I ran into Kat, literally. I helped her up, and I couldn't help but notice that she wasn't as excited to see me as she usually was.

"Good luck tomorrow Percy." She said, and under her breath she muttered, "You're going to need it."

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Hey what'cha think? I luv nice reviews, and/or suggestions!!! THANX!!!


	5. To Rachel's house we go

Heyy! I know that this chapter isn't as long as I promised, but in my defense, I have been really busy, and am currently suffering from writers block. *Sigh*

Anywho... Once again, I hope you enjoy, I really luv nice comments, I don't own any characters, places, etc...

**ENJOY!!!**

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I had to wake up at a very ungodly hour the next day. Artemis and I were supposed to head out for the quest before most of the campers woke up.

I groaned as my alarm went off. It was way too early to be getting out of bed. The sun wasn't even up yet! I glanced over at Tyson who was snoring peacefully in his overly tiny bed. I sighed, and pulled on my Camp Half-Blood sweatshirt, and a pair of fresh jeans, grabbed my supply bag and Riptide, and headed out towards the Big House.

When I reached the Big House, Artemis and Chiron were already there.

Artemis was pacing anxiously. She, as opposed to me, looked wide awake. Her auburn hair was neatly pulled up into a ponytail, and her backpack, which lay on the steps of the Big House, looked as if it had been packed neatly whereas with mine, I had just stuffed a few tee shirts, a pair of jeans, a hoodie, a bit of old ambrosia I found in my sweatshirt from who knows when, and a canteen of nectar.

Artemis looked up when she saw me coming. She looked annoyed that I was slightly late.

"Ahh, Percy you're here, now we can get going." Chiron said.

"Yea, sorry for being late." I yawned.

"Oh, it's no problem." Chiron said, kind of anxiously.

"What's wrong?" I asked, picking up on his anxiety.

Artemis answered, "The gods have already begun to fight."

"What?"

Chiron nodded grimly, "Apollo overheard Aphrodite talking to Ares about how he…um…" Chiron shifted uncomfortably.

Artemis sighed, "Let's just say that Aphrodite is convinced that I stole the master bolt, and my brother took it out on Ares." Artemis grinned mischievously.

"Oh." I said. I remembered what Apollo had told me a few years ago when Artemis had gone missing; _**nobody messes with my baby sister. Nobody.**_

_ I guess he wasn't kidding._ I thought to myself.

"So where is Rachel?" I asked.

"She should be spending the winter with her parents." Chiron replied, "Argus will drive you to the bus station. From there on, you two will be on your own."

"Goody" Artemis muttered sarcastically.

Our ride to the bus station was very quiet. Naturally, Argus didn't say anything, Artemis was lost in her own thoughts, and I was too tired to come up with anything to say.

When we reached the bus stop, we said our 'good-byes' to Argus, and sat down to wait for the bus. I won't lie; waiting with Artemis was a little awkward. It didn't help that just last night, she implied that I stole the master bolt.

Artemis broke the awkward silence, "About last night, I knew that you didn't steal the master bolt. I was just frustrated that I am being blamed 'again' for a crime I did not commit." I remained silent.

Fortunately, before things could get any more awkward, the bus came rumbling down the street.

On the bus, we didn't have to worry much about talking. Even though it was a near hour long ride to Rachel's neighborhood, we each had our own iPod to listen to. At first I found it a little strange that a goddess would have an iPod, but I guess since she was the sister of the god of music, she liked music a lot too.

We reached Rachel's street, and I led the way to her house. When we got there, we both instantly realized that something was wrong.

The large house, which was usually perfectly manicured, had long green ivy tendrils wrapping around the windows. The mailbox was overstuffed with letters, and the large front door was hanging by a hinge.

Artemis pulled out her bow, and I unsheathed Riptide, and we ran into the house.

"Look on the main floor," Artemis instructed, "I'll check the top floor." I nodded my head in agreement, and Artemis bolted up the stairs.

I ran into the kitchen, and on the counter I noticed a note. It was addressed to me, written by Rachel.

percy- i hope you get this note very sooN

it is hard to write this note for i find i hAve

a very hard time missing a friend . haVe

a wonderful christmas. i hope that joY

finds you this season. for you see my Percy

i miss you a lot. hopefully you soon wIll

find me at camp half-blood this summEr.

please remember to write to me, youR

friend, rachel.

_That's odd_. I thought. "Artemis, I found something." I called upstairs.

She ran down and looked at the note. She was silent for a moment.

"It doesn't make any sense." I said.

Artemis's eyes scanned the note, then slowly, she said, "Don't you find it… odd, that when she addresses the note to you, the first letter in your name isn't capitalized, yet later in the note, she capitalizes it?"

I shrugged.

"Also, look how far the last word in every line is. It has it so the capital letters line up." Artemis's eyes widened, "That's it." She breathed.

"What is?" I asked.

She grabbed a pen off of the table and flipped the note over, so she had a clean space to write on. She wrote down some of the letters, then showed it to me.

NAVY PIER

"What?" I asked, still confused.

Artemis rolled her eyes at me, "Navy Pier. In Chicago." I still didn't understand.

Artemis sighed, "Don't you get it? It's a clue. Rachel must have been in trouble, and now she's at Navy Pier."

"oh." I said. Rachel couldn't be in trouble. Why would anyone try to kidnap her? "So what do we do now?" I asked.

Artemis smiled. "Now, we book the next flight to Illinois."

_Uh oh…

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_

So... What'cha think? I luv positive feedback. Thanx!!!


	6. Chicago

Hola! Hey I finished this chapter... Yay!!! It's a bit longer than the last one (I hope) so please enjoy and tell me what'cha think.  


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On the bus ride to the airport, I tried thinking of a way to get out of flying to Illinois. I could say I had a fear of heights, but I figured Artemis wouldn't really care, and truth be told, I was actually kind of curious to see what flying was like. I had never been on an airplane, because my mom had always been afraid that Zeus would blast me out of the sky if I had ever gotten into one, and it probably didn't help that her parents had been killed in a plane crash when she was younger.

I had been so lost in thought, that I didn't realize that we had finally reached the airport. I probably would have missed our stop too if Artemis hadn't told me it was time to go.

We walked inside of the large airport, and Artemis went to buy our tickets. It was now or never. I had to tell her that I couldn't fly.

I grabbed her arm before she could walk off. She looked at me strangely, "Perseus, what are you doing?" she asked suspiciously.

"Umm…" _Oh boy, here it goes, _"I can't fly on an airplane." I admitted quickly.

"Why not?" she asked suspiciously.

_Gods she's making this hard, _"Umm, well, your father, Lord Zeus, he umm, he doesn't exactly like me flying. Flying, for me would probably be a bad idea."

"Oh, right." Artemis cursed under her breath in Ancient Greek.

"Maybe we could just take a train instead." I suggested.

Artemis thought for a moment, "No, flying would be much quicker, and we have to find the master bolt by the winter solstice, and we don't even have to prophecy yet. Flying is the quickest way to go." She thought for a moment, "Besides, Zeus wouldn't blast the plane out of the sky if I'm in it too." She added.

"You don't sound so sure." I commented.

Artemis scowled at me, "Just trust me ok." Before I could reply, she stalked off to the ticket counter to buy our tickets.

As I waited, I heard someone reciting a horrible haiku,

"_Flying is now safe_

_Percy can find Rachel Dare_

_My haikus are neat_"

I glanced around, and wasn't all that surprised to see Apollo leaning against an 'Out-of-Order' ticket machine, dressed as if he were coming back from the beach, with flip-flops, and sunglasses on. I looked around and casually walked over to the sun god.

Apollo flashed a brilliant smile at me, "Hey Percy Jackson, long time, no see, what did you think of my haiku?"

"Umm…"

The smile faded slightly from Apollo's face, "Never mind, don't answer that. So, I heard you stole the Zeus's lighting bolt again."

Before I could protest, Apollo cut me off again, "Hey, relax cous'. I know you didn't steal it. I also know my sister didn't steal it either." He glanced over at Artemis who was waiting to get our tickets.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as politely as I could.

"I am here to bring you good news." Apollo smiled.

"Umm, isn't that usually Hermes job?" I asked.

Apollo shrugged, "Yea, but Hermes was busy, so I decided to help him out." He paused dramatically, before continuing, "Now, for good news; Zeus says he won't blast you out of the sky for flying this time. He wanted me to emphasize though, that you can only fly this once. Zeus says that if you were to ever try flying again, that he would quickly incinerate you into nothing." Apollo beamed at me.

I nodded my head slightly dazed, "Good to know."

Apollo nodded, "Yep, and two more things before I go. One: Find my oracle. Rachel's a tough girl, but still, I'm nothing without someone who speaks my prophecies."

I nodded, "Okay, what's the second thing?" I asked.

"Watch out for my baby sister." Apollo said in a hushed voice.

I was a bit surprised by this request. Artemis was a goddess after all. "I'm pretty sure Artemis can watch out for herself." I said in the same hushed voice that Apollo used.

Apollo looked slightly concerned, "I know I just have a bad feeling about this quest that's all. Just don't try to do anything super dangerous on the quest." He said.

His seriousness startled me. After a moment I nodded my head. I'd try to keep us as safe as possible.

Apollo looked relieved, "Well that's good. See you around Percy." He began to walk away, but paused and turned back towards me, "Oh, and Percy, you promised me a haiku after the quest to save my sister and I never got one, so I'll be expecting one the next time I see you."

I began to stutter how I didn't even know how to write a haiku, but Apollo just winked at me and in a flash, he was gone.

A few hours later, Artemis and I were seated in the crowded airplane, waiting for takeoff. I had begged Artemis for the window seat, and she had stared at me strangely before finally allowing me to sit there.

Artemis was sitting calmly in the seat next to mine. I didn't understand how she could be so calm, whereas I was anxiously awaiting the takeoff. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, the plane began to move.

I realized quickly that flying was only exciting for the first few minutes of takeoff. Once we go to around 30000 feet off the ground, I realized how annoying flying was, especially with my ADHD. As we got higher, my ears began to pop uncomfortably, and looking down, the only thing I could see was clouds. I began to fidget uncomfortably as my ADHD began to act up. I couldn't stand sitting still with only a few inches of leg room.

Some few hours later, the plane landed in the Chicago airport. I had never felt so glad to stand up in my life. Artemis looked relieved that we landed too. I guess I was probably driving her insane with my fidgeting during the flight.

We grabbed our bags from the drop-off area, and made our way out into the bustling Chicago streets. I looked around in amazement. It was almost frightening how much Chicago looked like New York. Chicago was a little bit smaller that New York, but it had the same sort of busy feeling about it. I looked around and noticed a tall building jutting out into the sky, more so than the other buildings; the Sears Tower. It kind of reminded me of a smaller, more uneven version of the Empire State Building.

"So where's Navy Pier?" I asked Artemis.

Artemis thought for a moment, "If I remember correctly, it's about 30 minutes away by car."

"Okay."

We found a taxi, and about half and hour later, we were outside of Navy Pier. It was pretty cool looking. A large Ferris wheel stood out against the smaller rides and fountains. Large overly decorated Christmas trees decorated the pier, and thousands of people were walking around in the cool winter air. The smell of hot cocoa and cinnamon was intoxicating. It smelled so wonderfully like Christmas in New York.

I was dragged back into reality when I realized that with all of the people, it would be near impossible to find Rachel.

"How are we going to be able to find Rachel here?" I asked Artemis.

"We should start by looking in the most inconspicuous places for her. Just look out for some monsters. I have a feeling that they will lead us to her." Artemis said.

We began maneuvering our way through the crowd. No one really paid us much attention so that was a good thing. But unfortunately it was very hard keeping track of where Artemis was. There were so many mortal girls here that looked about her age, that it was near impossible to follow her.

I had been walking for a while when I realized that I hadn't seen Artemis in a while. Panicking, I began frantically looking around for her. Fortunately after a while I found her again. She began heading towards the mini-golf course. We had already been that way. I ran up to her to see where she was going.

"Artemis. Artemis!" I tried to get her attention, but she didn't respond. Finally I caught up with her.

"Artemis where are you going, we've already looked over here." I said tapping her on the shoulder.

She spun around, and I realized in an instant that it wasn't Artemis, "My name's not Artemis weird-o! Now stop following me." The girl huffed.

"Umm, sorry, I thought you were someone else." I apologized.

The girl stalked off, and I began to get a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I had no idea where I was, or where Artemis was.

I was completely, and entirely lost.

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Heyy! So what did you think? I luv positive feedback. Thanks!

~ArtemisFrimm


	7. Fun at Navy Pier!

Hola happy people of the internet! The beginning of this chapter had to start in Artemis's POV. I had to make it a little more exciting, and I wanted it to flow a little better. Hope you don't mind. (If you do, well, I'm just afraid you'll have to get over it! LOLZ) Well thanks for reading this far. Also, I used a lot of refrence from the lighting theif, so just as a little reminder, I don't own and of the characters, places, etc. Well I've kept you for too long, please enjoy...  


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Artemis was annoyed. That was the easiest way to put it. She was _very _annoyed. _Leave it to a male to get lost_. She thought to herself. _How am I supposed to find him in a crowd like this? _That's when she noticed the 150 foot tall Ferris wheel. _Well that simplifies things a bit. _Artemis thought bitterly.

She bought a ticket to ride the Ferris wheel, and waited in line. She hated waiting in line. She didn't like waiting amongst all of the revolting mortals. Artemis thought she would hurl when she saw a teenage mortal couple begin to make-out in front of her.

"Disgusting isn't it?" a raspy voice hissed in her ear. Artemis jumped, and almost whipped out her dagger, when she realized it was just a fat, old woman with her ugly little Chihuahua in line behind her. Artemis felt her face begin to burn with embarrassment, if Apollo were there, he would have never let her live that down.

"Sorry sweetheart. I didn't mean to scare you." The fat lady smiled.

Artemis felt her face burn even more, "I wasn't scared, I just…wasn't expecting it that's all." she argued.

The fat lady smiled at Artemis again, which for some reason made her nervous.

_You're just being paranoid._ Artemis told herself, _She's just a fat old mortal lady. _

The fat lady's Chihuahua began to growl at Artemis. The fat lady smiled at her dog, "Now, now sonny, behave, she's just a sweet little girl, no need to be mean."

_Wow, mortals are really weird. _Artemis thought to herself as she began to get onto the Ferris wheel.

As the Ferris wheel began to rise, Artemis began to look in the crowds for Percy. She was at the top, when she found him. He was standing by the food stands. _Typical. _

Artemis began to feel anxious again. She wished that the Ferris wheel could go quicker. The ride had stopped to let a couple off, and she could hear the Chihuahua belonging to the fat lady in line behind her. The dog was no longer growling, but was roaring. Artemis looked up at the old lady, whose car was hovering about ten feet above hers.

The old lady had transformed. Her skin had become a scaly and green. She smiled down at Artemis and her teeth were no longer teeth, but fangs. The echidna! Her Chihuahua had also gone through a transformation. It had grown so large, that it no longer fit inside the car. It had the head of a lion, the body and hooves of a goat, and a rattle-snake-like tail. A chimera!

_Great, could this day get any better? _Artemis muttered.

Artemis jumped out of her seat, and tried to remain balanced on the rocking car. She pulled out her bow, but before she could fire a single arrow, the Chimera had jumped down, landing heavily on her already rocking car, knocking her off balance.

Artemis managed to grab on to the side of the car before she could fall over 100 feet to the ground.

"SONNY, GET HER! GET THAT NASTY GODDESS!" the Echidna shrieked.

The chimera growled and began to creep towards Artemis. Being a huntress, Artemis had seen many wild cats move in that position. It was going to pounce.

But instead of pouncing, the Chimera opened its mouth and shot a column of fire at her.

Fortunately Artemis had managed to let go before the fire had gotten to her. _Un_fortunately, she began to fall towards the ground. But before reaching the ground, she landed painfully on the roof of the merry-go-round.

Sitting up, Artemis became painfully aware of three things. 1) Her back and head hurt like crazy. 2) The Echidna was still screaming at her demonic Chimera friend to rip her apart. And 3) none of the mortals had noticed a thing. They acted as if nothing had happened. _Wow that must have been some strong Mist_. Artemis thought.

Artemis sighed and slid off of the merry-go-round, and began to run towards the food stands, hoping that Percy was still there.

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After I had gotten separated from Artemis, I had headed towards the food stands. We hadn't looked for Rachel there yet, so I figured it would be a good place to look. That and I was hungry. I hadn't eaten since breakfast, and it was already almost five o'clock pm.

I was about to take a bite out of a big polish sausage, when Artemis came ran over and punched me in the gut.

Let me tell you. Even though Artemis looks like she's twelve, she can punch like a professional boxer.

I doubled over in pain and my eyes began to water. I looked up at Artemis who was glaring at me. I noticed that she had a yellowish bruise above her eyebrow.

"Where in Hades have you been?" she demanded.

I was still gasping for breath when I managed to answer her, "I thought I was following you, but it was just some annoying twelve year old girl."

I inhaled deeply through my nose trying to get more oxygen, and realized that Artemis smelled like BBQ.

"Why do you smell like you just came out of a barbeque?" I asked.

Artemis scowled at me, "I ran into the Echidna." She said coldly.

I didn't get to hear her answer because just then I noticed a frizzy red-headed girl over at the ring-toss booth.

I ran over towards her, and Artemis followed closely behind. "Rachel!" I shouted.

Rachel turned towards me and grinned. "Percy, hey, you got my message didn't you?"

I nodded, but was a bit confused, "Rachel, I thought you were in trouble." I said.

Rachel shook her head, "No, my parents decided to take us to Chicago for Christmas, but I figured eventually you'd need the Oracle so I told you where I was." She beamed.

Artemis looked annoyed, "Why not just tell us that you were going to Navy Pier then?" she asked.

Rachel cocked her head to the side, obviously trying to recognize who Artemis was, "Hey, aren't you Apollo's little sister?" she asked.

Artemis gritted her teeth, and was obviously trying not to strangle Rachel. I intervened before she could.

"Look, Rachel, I'm really happy to see you, but we really need a prophecy ASAP. We're on a really tight schedule." I said.

Rachel didn't respond, but instead began to slump over.

"Rachel!" I yelped.

She groaned and leaned on me for support, "It's starting Percy."

"What's starting?" I asked Artemis, nervously.

"She's going to give us the prophecy. We have to move her were there isn't a lot of people." Artemis said, remaining shockingly calm.

Artemis helped me support Rachel, and she led us to the bathrooms. I could just barely make out the words on a sign on the girls bathroom door. 'Out of Order'.

"No way are we going in there." I said.

Artemis rolled her eyes at me, "Come on, it'll be the quietest place."

Groaning, I followed Artemis and Rachel into the out-of-order girls bathroom.

Rachel was looking pale. Suddenly she collapsed. Artemis and I managed to catch her before she hit the ground. Then Rachel's head shot up. Her eyes were glowing white. She turned towards me, and spoke in the Oracle's voice. "_I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, seeker, and ask." _

My heart was beating rapidly in my chest. I felt pale and clammy, and I glanced at Artemis and noticed even she seemed a little unnerved.

"What must we do to find the Master Bolt?" I asked nervously.

"_Goddess and demigod will travel as one,_

_You will then travel to the land of the sun,_

_From there you will find the man of the sea,_

_He will then tell you where to find thee,_

_Together, for differences you must compromise_

_And daughter of all will lead the Titans to rise." _Rachel finished. Her eyes dimmed, and she collapsed again. Artemis and I caught her, and I looked at Artemis, she looked just about as worried as I was. Who was 'the daughter of all', and why would she help the Titans rise?

"Mmmm, my head hurts." Rachel said, sounding shaky.

"Are you ok?" I asked her, trying not to sound worried.

Rachel nodded, "Yea, I'll be fine. Good luck on your quest Percy." She said. She gave me a hug, before walking out of the bathroom, back towards her parents.

Artemis looked at me funny, and I tried not to blush.

"Well we should probably get going." She said.

"Yea, but to where?" I asked.

"The land of the sun, I assume, by that, Apollo meant 'the sunshine state'." She explained. "We're going to Florida." She sighed.

* * *

Hola! I hope you enjoyed, I hope the prophecy wasn't to bad, it was very hard to come up with. I luv positive feedback!

~ArtemisFrimm


	8. Fights, Flights, and monsters oh my!

Heyy, thanks for reading my story so far, I loved the reivew, hope you like this chapter, it was pretty hard to write, thanks again!

~ArtemisFrimm

* * *

Turns out, we weren't going to Florida right away. It was pretty late by the time we got out of Navy Pier. We ended up staying at a hotel called the New Moon Inn. It was weird; this place was so nice compared to its location. The town surrounding the hotel looked like the home to a bunch of drug-dealers, but the hotel looked like a five star hotel you'd see in Hollywood.

Once inside, Artemis crashed onto the couch, and pulled out her iPod. _I guess that mean's I get the bed. _I thought. I took advantage of the hot running water, and decided to take a shower. It's not very often that you get to take a shower on a quest.

After I finished my shower, I landed on the bed, and fell asleep instantly. Once again, I had another weird dream.

In my dream, I was standing in the hotel room, we were staying at. It was like I was someone else. I could see my body sleeping soundly on the bed. Artemis had apparently fallen asleep, and was sleeping on the couch. For some reason, the dark silence made me nervous. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard the door to our room creak open.

A man (or monster) dressed in black snuck into the room soundlessly. He crept into the room, regarding me, and continuing on towards Artemis, who was still asleep. I was freaking out, but couldn't wake up. The man kept creeping forward, that's when I noticed the knife in his right hand. That's when I woke up.

I woke up in my bed screaming. What made matters worse was that the black figure was still there.

Artemis had woken up once she heard my screaming. Her silvery eyes shot open, and she instantly noticed the man in black. Fast as thought, she whipped out a small dagger from under her pillow, and tossed it at the man's head. As soon as the celestial bronze dagger hit the man's head, he evaporated into dust.

Artemis quickly flicked on the table lamp next to the couch. She seemed startled, and was trying to regain her composure.

I wasn't sure what scared me more, the man (or I guess monster) dressed in black, or the fact that Artemis sleeps with a dagger under her pillow.

"Are you okay?" she asked in a surprisingly calm tone.

I didn't trust my voice at the moment, so I just nodded.

Artemis walked over to the knife the monster had dropped when he had incinerated. She picked it, along with something else off of the ground.

"What was he trying to do?" I finally managed to ask.

Artemis turned towards me, holding up, not only the knife, but a little empty vial too.

"I think it was trying to get my blood." Artemis said slowly.

"Wait a minute; was that a monster or Dracula?" I asked.

Artemis looked slightly confused, which was odd for a god. Finally she answered, "I'm not really sure." (wow also odd.) "But I'll keep watch for the rest of the night. Go to sleep, we're going to get some answers in Florida tomorrow." I nodded, and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep again.

The next morning, I woke up to ice-cold water being splashed on my face. Let me clue you in on something; when you add a sleeping demigod, and ice-cold water, you end up with one of the following:

a) An extremely irritated demigod

b) A startled demigod that jumps almost eight feet out of his bed

c) A noise that sounds like a rusty old car horn

Or d) all three

I was 'd'. I yelped and jumped out of bed. I glanced over at Artemis who was trying to hide a smirk.

"What in Hades was that for?" I whined.

Artemis smirked, "Time to get up, our flight leaves in three hours."

"What flight?" I asked, still groggy from the night's sleep.

"Our flight to Florida," Artemis said, "You know, where we have to go to finish the quest and get some answers, ring a bell?" she asked sarcastically.

I suddenly felt as if I had been launched off of a roller coaster. I remembered what Apollo had told me back in New York. I was only allowed to ride on an airplane that one time. Zeus would blast me to oblivion if I were to go on an airplane again. "Umm, would it be alright if we didn't fly?" I asked.

"Hmm… No." Artemis said.

"But, Lord Zeus will obliterate me if I go anywhere near the sky." I argued, determined not to go on the airplane.

"He didn't 'obliterate' you last time." Artemis pointed out.

I sighed, then told her about my meeting with her brother, minus the part where Apollo told me to watch out for her.

Artemis thought for a minute. "It would take way to long trying to get there by train." she said, "I guess we'll just have to pray that Zeus is in a good mood." She shrugged.

"Oh goody." I said sarcastically.

About an hour later, we were waiting to be boarded at the Chicago International airport. I still thought that this was a bad idea, so I prayed (since we left the hotel almost an hour ago until now) to Zeus that he'd allow me to fly this once more.

Finally they called us to be boarded. Artemis had told me not to sit with her on this flight. _I guess I really did drive her insane last time._ In the plane, she sat in the seat a row across from me. I glanced out my window; it was a nice, clear, sunny day. Maybe Zeus would cut me some slack.

Once we were in the air, I grew anxious. My ADHD was acting up, so I was fidgeting, and the sky was growing darker, making me even more nervous. I thought I would lose it completely when I heard the flight attendant's voice over the intercom, "We will be running into some unexpected turbulence, please find your seats, and keep your seat belts on. Thank you."

I glanced over at Artemis, who was glancing out the window. Her fingers were drumming the armrest anxiously. _She's nervous too._ I realized.

Suddenly the plane gave a giant shudder, causing the passengers to rattle in their seats. I looked out the window; the sky was near black. I glanced over at Artemis again; her face had become slightly pale.

I almost died of a panic-attack when the lights on the plane shut off, leaving us in darkness. I jumped when I felt someone move to sit next to me. I was able to relax, a little when I realized it was Artemis. I could still see glowing, silvery eyes. They looked worried. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I noticed that she was silently mouthing something, a prayer. To her dad? I decided to follow her lead and began to pray desperately to Lord Zeus.

Finally, after two minutes of pure agony, the lights on the plane flashed back on, and the sky grew lighter. I noticed Artemis breath a sigh of relief.

"We will be safely reaching Miami soon," the flight attendant's voice rang out over the intercom, "Sorry for that little scare, enjoy your visit to Miami, and thank you for flying with us on U.S. Airlines."

Finally, we had reached Florida. Time to start the quest.

* * *

Heyy, thank's for reading my story so far! (No, I'm not done with it, it's just gettin started) thanks, I luv positive feedbacl!


	9. Hola from Florida, Love:Percy Jackson

Hola, ravid readers, have you ever tried a chocolate gob? If not, you seriously need to! I was actually able to finish this chapter cuz of one my neighbor made they r so yummy, Oh btw, I hope u enjoy the chapter, (and chocolate gob if u manage to find one)

~Artemis Frimm

* * *

In Florida, we stuck out like sore thumbs. Artemis and I were dressed in sweatshirts and jeans for the chilly Chicago weather, but in Florida, it was sunny, and in the high 60s.

Somehow though, Artemis had packed warm-weather clothes for us to change into. Once we were changed, I remembered that we were supposed to meet up with 'the man of the sea'.

"Where do we meet the 'man of the sea'?" I asked Artemis as we made our way out into the sunny Miami streets.

She thought for a moment before answering, "We'll have to meet him at Miami Beach." She said.

I nodded, "And do you know who 'the man of the sea' is?" I asked.

She stared at me, "You don't know?" she said, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. I shrugged.

"Think about it, which immortal being of the sea, has the ability to tell us where the Master Bolt is located."

That's when it dawned on me; we had to find Nereus. Once again, we had a problem. "Nereus will recognize me from the last time I saw him." I told her.

"Wait, you mean you've managed to get information from Nereus?" Artemis asked, shocked.

I nodded, "Yea, when we were trying to rescue you, we had to find out what creature had to ability to destroy the gods." I explained.

Artemis blushed slightly from mention of her capture, but recovered quickly. "We'll just have to force him to tell us what we need to know." She sighed.

The walk down to Miami Beach took about three-and-a-half hours, and by then I was ready to take a swim in the ocean, it was so warm down here. Fortunately, the scenery was pretty cool. Miami seemed quite a bit more relaxed than New York was. People would drive by with surf-boards attached to their cars, and almost all of the hotels we passed, looked like luxurious beach resorts. The streets were dotted with palm trees, and on every street, there were all different types of sea-food restaurants. Basically, Miami was definitely a city I wouldn't mind living in.

At the beach, surfers were surfing pretty large waves, children were splashing in the waters and building sand-castles, and a group of people were playing a game of shirts versus skins beach volleyball.

"Where do we find Nereus?" I asked Artemis.

I watched as her silvery eyes scanned the beach, looking for Nereus.

Her eyes suddenly focused on a ruddy-looking old man, sitting on the far side of the beach; Nereus.

"Can you tackle him from behind?" Artemis asked me.

I nodded, _Yea, sure, no biggie; I'm used to sneaking up and tackling super-strong old men, who can change form. _

"I'll be right behind you, for backup." Artemis added.

We snuck up behind Nereus. I began to creep forward. Right as I was behind him, he reached back, grabbed my arm, and flipped me over his head, into the shallow, surf.

Luckily, being the son of the sea god can have its advantages. The water strengthened me, allowing me to take down Nereus. Nereus began struggling and hitting me, which, by the way, really hurt. Artemis ran over, as soon as I had tackled Nereus, and pulled out her dagger, aiming it a Nereus's throat.

"Damn you to Tartarus Percy Jackson!" Nereus cursed loudly.

Artemis scowled at him, "Control your language Nereus, there are children here."

Nereus, if possible, looked even angrier when he found out that Artemis was here to witness, and help with his capture.

"Oh, joy, Lady Artemis." Nereus smirked at her, "What could have happened that forces you to grace me with you, and Perseus Jackson's presence?"

Artemis scowled at him, and dug the dagger, deeper into his neck, "Where is Zeus's Master Bolt?" she asked coldly.

Nereus smirked at her again, "Hmm, seeing as you didn't capture me, you don't get to ask the questions Daughter of Zeus." Nereus spat, then he glared at me, "Well Perseus Jackson, what do you want to know?" he asked me coldly.

"Where is Lord Zeus's Master Bolt?" I asked.

"Hmm, let's think shall we, where is the only godly place in America, worthy of hiding an item with that much power?" Nereus mused.

I had no idea. I glanced over at Artemis, who was thinking.

Finally Artemis spoke, "Garden of the Gods?" she breathed.

Nereus sighed, "Bingo!"

"But how are we supposed to get there?" Artemis asked.

Nereus smirked, "Sorry kid, one question per group." And with a snap of his fingers, Nereus had disappeared.

We had a little more than a week to get the Master Bolt back, and we couldn't go to Colorado by flying. So we decided to think it over night. We stopped at one of the sea-food restaurants, and ordered two po'boys to go, then headed walked down to a small park, with a huge forest, and we set up 'camp'. We were beginning to run short on money, and we needed to save some for our train ride to Colorado. Yup, folks we're taking a train. Even though it'll take us like two days to get to Colorado, we decided it would be safer than trying to fly again. 'Camp', was basically a few blankets to lie on, and a small campfire. But it was warm, and the fire kept the mosquitoes away, so it was pretty comfortable.

Pretty soon I could feel my eyelids beginning to droop. Artemis was looking up at the stars. I looked up, and recognized some of the constellations. Zoë Nightshade, the most recent constellation added to the night sky shimmered brightly, next to the famous constellation Orion. Both were in the sky because of Artemis. She glanced over at me, "I'll take first watch." She said quietly.

I nodded, and before dozing off, saw Artemis take an amazing leap into the nearest tree to keep watch. I fell into sleep full of a very frightening dream.

In my dream, I heard two voices arguing. I recognized both of them. The first one, was the deep metallic voice, that could only be Kronos. The other was softer, obviously a girl, a young one by the sound of it. I recognized the voice from somewhere, but I couldn't place where. The two were arguing.

"They are getting closer to finding the Master Bolt." Kronos growled.

"Relax," came the second voice, "I'll succeed, and the gods won't know what hit them."

"Well hurry on with it then, I'm not getting any younger." Kronos growled.

"Well you're not exactly getting any older either." The girl's voice muttered.

"Go, now!" Kronos yelled.

That's when I woke up, feeling as if my arm were being torn off. Literally.

* * *

Yup that's the chapter folks! I hope u managed to find a chocolate gob, oh by the way, a po'boy is a southern submarine sandwich, very good. Oh yea before I forget, I luv positive feedback so thanx!


	10. Yea, tonight basically sucked

Jola Jola! Sorry it took so long to post. This story kinda switches b/t Artemis POV and Percy POV. I'll let you know when they switch. Oh btw, I don't own PJO, etc blah blah blah, yea... to the story

~Luv ArtemisFrimm

* * *

**Artemis POV**

Meanwhile…

Artemis sat perched in the limb of the tall tree. Her trained ears listened for any sound of monsters. Everything seemed quiet, almost too quiet. She waited a while. She could feel Morpheus coaxing her to sleep. Her eyelids began to feel heavy. _I can close my eyes for a minute, I suppose. _Artemis thought sleepily to herself before closing her eyes.

_SNAP! _

Artemis awoke with a start as she heard a small twig snap from somewhere in the forest. She cursed at herself silently for falling asleep. She listened intently for what ever had made that noise. She could faintly hear a low-pitched growl coming from the underbrush. Soundlessly, Artemis slid from out of the tree, and began to creep towards Percy to wake him up. She had almost reached him, when from out of the forest jumped two large hell-hounds, and a Nemean Lion.

* * *

**Percy POV**

When I awoke, I realized a few things.

1) My arm was bleeding, and I was being dragged along the forest floor by a hell-hound.

2) There was another hell-hound plus a Nemean Lion that was circling Artemis trying to find a good place to attack.

And 3) I was even more tired then I was when I fell asleep.

I was really getting tired of hell-hounds. _Thunk! _All of the sudden the hell-hound had exploded into ashes. I glanced over at Artemis. She had her silver bow out, and was shooting arrow after silver arrow at the Nemean Lion, trying to hit it in the mouth. Even for the goddess of the hunt, that had to be a pretty hard shot.

Suddenly I heard a low growl coming from behind me. As fast as thought I pulled out Riptide and slashed at the second hell-hound that had tried to attack me from behind.

Sadly I missed. That's what happens when you try to put a tired demigod into battle; they make really stupid mistakes.

"You missed!" Artemis shouted, still firing arrows at the lion, "How could you miss! It was right in front of you!"

I shrugged, feeling very stupid, and looked around again for the hell-hound I had missed. Unfortunately, I hadn't realized that a third hell-hound had snuck up from behind me, and before I had realized it, I was sent flying through the air, and whacked my head off of something sharp. Before I blacked out, I felt something warm and sticky dripping down my face. Yea, tonight basically sucked.

* * *

**Artemis POV**

Artemis glanced over at Percy, and saw him lying unconscious on the ground, blood dripping from a gash on his forehead. The two hell-hounds were approaching towards Percy, obviously to finish the kill. Artemis scowled and shot one last arrow at the Nemean Lion, (which of course did nothing) and ran towards the hell-hounds. _Here I am saving the mortal son of Poseidon, again. _Artemis thought to herself bitterly as she notched two arrows, and let them fly at the hell-hounds. The arrows hit their marks and the hell-hounds evaporated into dust.

She turned her attention back to the Nemean Lion. She would have to worry about Percy later. She looked around the clearing; the Nemean Lion was gone. _Where did- _

Suddenly the Nemean Lion leaped from out of the nearest tree, baring its fangs, and extending its claws. Artemis smirked, _A_ _perfect shot. _Right as she was about to release her arrow, another arrow, a pale blue arrow, was shot from out of the forest behind her, hitting the Nemean Lion in the throat. The lion melted into a warm, bullet-proof pelt, leaving Artemis stunned.

That was her shot. She would have killed it in an instant. Whoever the other archer was was going to be sorry.

She wheeled around, and drew her bow, and released an arrow into the forest, from where the blue arrow was shot. A flash of golden light illuminated the forest for a minute, and then went black again.

Artemis was furious that she hadn't been able to find out who had made that shot. _The only other person who could have made a shot like that would be Apollo, and he doesn't shoot with blue arrows. _On normal circumstances, she would have done everything she could have to find out who had made that shot, but she had to diminish her curiosity so worry about the pain-in-the-butt son of Poseidon, who was still out cold and bleeding furiously. So, with one more glance towards the forest, she ran over, to help Percy.

* * *

**Percy POV**

While I was out cold, I had another dream. I know, I know, I'm chalk full of 'em tonight. Anyhoo, back to my dream: In my dream, I heard Kronos's metallic voice echoing through a cave, "What were you thinking? The Nemean Lion was supposed to slow them down, and you killed it!"

The girl's voice that I swear I recognized from somewhere answered him, "Don't worry _my lord._"The girl said sarcastically, "I've got my… mmm… minions, waiting for them in Colorado. I'll let them get their precious Master Bolt, and we get what we want. And soon, the gods say 'bye, bye.'" She laughed.

"Well don't dilly-dally, get to work on your plan, before I find someone better to fill your shoes." Kronos hissed.

The girl laughed mockingly at him, "Wow, 'dilly-dally'? Kronos, have you been watching too much 'Barney'? 'Cause you that really doesn't sound very scary. I mean-"

"GO NOW!" Kronos boomed.

"Yes sir." The girl said with more sincerity.

Yup, and that's where I woke up.

When I woke up, I felt instantly dizzy, and had the craziest headache. I tried to stand up, but began to fall again. Artemis managed to keep me balanced, although by the look on her face, she did it grudgingly. She set me back down on the ground, and I held onto my head, trying to stop the dizziness.

"Hold still for a minute." She commanded.

"Oh, yea, 'cause I was planning on running away." I muttered sarcastically, still trying to stop the dizziness.

Artemis searched through her pack, and pulled out a flashlight, ambrosia square, and what looked like a tube of toothpaste.

She handed me the ambrosia square, and clicked on the flashlight, shining it in my eyes, trying to see if I had a concussion.

"It doesn't look like you have a concussion." She said slowly.

"Well that's good." I said, taking a bite into the ambrosia square. The ambrosia instantly began healing my arm, but my head was still throbbing. I felt like passing out again.

Artemis looked at the gash on my forehead, and tentatively reached out and skimmed her fingers across it, causing a searing pain. I swatted her hand away and held my hand in my hands again, trying to stop the throbbing. I seriously felt like passing out, and throwing up, it hurt so badly.

Artemis looked slightly concerned, "Percy are you ok?" she asked slowly.

"Oh yea, perfectly fine. Right as rain, actually." I said sarcastically.

"The ambrosia isn't working." She said, quietly cursing.

"Uhh, no freaking duh!" I said, my head still feeling like it was falling off.

"We can't risk giving you any more ambrosia. We'll have to use some liquid fire." She said, pulling out the tube of toothpaste.

"Liquid what?" I asked.

"Liquid fire. Apollo created it. It works like Neosporin, and ambrosia, but isn't nearly as potent as regular ambrosia." Artemis explained.

"Why is it called liquid fire then?" I asked.

Artemis opened her mouth as if to answer but instead said, "Oh you'll see." _Oh joy._

Artemis squeezed a small bit of liquid fire onto her finger. It kind of looked like soap-flavored jell-o. Cautiously, she reached forward and began to smear some of the liquid fire onto my cut.

Let me inform you on why liquid fire is called 'liquid fire'. When rubbed on a cut, it feels like someone is seriously burning your skin. Yea, not a pleasant feeling.

As soon as she rubbed the stuff on my forehead, I couldn't think straight. I shoved her roughly away from me, which on normal occasions probably would've gotten me killed, and began trying to rub the liquid fire off my head. When I tried to rub it off, I realized that the gash was no longer there. That still didn't mean I couldn't still feel the after-affects of it.

"Why did you do that?" I asked her furiously.

Artemis was still on the ground looking stunned, but still managed to keep her voice even, "I had to stop the bleeding."

I sighed, trying to calm down, "Sorry." I muttered.

Artemis shrugged, "That stuff does hurt. Apollo used it on me once, after a hunting accident, it really can pack a punch."

I nodded, as a wave of exhaustion washed over me.

"Go back to sleep. I'll keep watch again." Artemis assured me.

I nodded, and then remembered my dream. But my eyelids began to feel heavy, and I promised myself that I'd tell her in the morning. It could wait until then. Right?

* * *

Heyy, hope you were able to follow my random chingings in POVs. But hey if not let me know, and I'll try to fix it. Hmm... I think I'm gonna go take a nap now. Writing takes a lot out of someone (that and volleyball)

Luv nice reivew! Thanks

~ArtemisFrimm


	11. Music City, USA

Jola Happy readers of the internet! I'm a little bummed, cuz this chapter is a wee bit shorter than I would have liked it to be, but I kinda wanted to end it where I did, so, oh well. Anyhoo, On with the reading!!!

~ArtemisFrimm

* * *

Needless to say that I forgot to tell Artemis about my dreams as soon as I saw the doughnuts; the breakfast of champions. As soon as I got up, Artemis hopped out from one of the overhanging trees.

"Well, good morning sleeping beauty." Artemis mocked.

I shrugged, "Sorry. What time is it?"

Artemis sighed, "Three in the afternoon."

"Oh." I said, trying to remember the events of the night before, "Sorry, I don't usually sleep that long." I said, stuffing a glazed doughnut into my mouth.

"Yea, that would probably be the after-effect of the liquid fire." Artemis said, grinning mischievously, "Hurry up and finish eating, our train leaves in two hours." Pretty soon, I was on a train, on our way to Colorado.

Our train ride would consist of two stops, so with the ride, plus the stops between stations, it would take us about 38 hours to reach Colorado. Our first stop would be in Nashville. The ride there took about 14 hours. Yea, for a demigod, that's not fun.

Our car had two long couch-like seats, one for Artemis, and one for me. Artemis pulled out her iPod, and pretty soon, she had fallen asleep. I was still pretty tired from the night before, and I fell asleep also. Thankfully, no dreams.

"Wake up. We're here." Artemis said, shaking me awake.

"IDOWANNAGERRUP." I mumbled groggily.

Artemis sighed, obviously frustrated, and suddenly I felt my backpack thrown at me.

"Okay, okay, yeash, I'm up." I said yawning, "What time is it anyway?" I asked.

"Eight in the morning. We've arrived in Nashville. C'mon let's get something to eat." Artemis said, sounding annoyed.

I nodded and followed her.

Due to our beginning to lack in money, our breakfast was basically and egg McMuffin from McDonald's. We had an hour before our next train left for Colorado, so we decided to walk around Nashville, which, by the way, was a pretty cool looking city.

"So how's your head feel?" Artemis asked, as we passed by some neat looking buildings.

"Fine." I answered.

"That's good." She said, stopping in front of a strange looking building. It had a small dome attached to it, and the wall was designed to look like a giant piano keyboard. Artemis laughed softly, "Apollo would love to take a tour of that place." She smiled.

"What is it?" I asked, struggling to read the sign.

"The Country Music Hall-of-Fame Museum," Artemis said, "This place is full of Apollo's kids."

I nodded, "Cool. When do you think we should head back to the train station?" I asked.

"I'd say, right now." She said, looking anxiously over my shoulder.

"What's wrong?" I asked turning around.

There, a few yards away from us was Thorn, the manticore. Seeing me and Artemis, Thorn winked at us, and pulled out a walkie-talkie, and began talking into it.

"Yea, we need to go now." Artemis hissed in my ear.

I nodded, _Why wasn't Thorn attacking us? Why was he letting us go? _I think the fact that he **didn't** attack us, made me more nervous, then I would have been, had he attacked us.

We made it to the train station safely (to somewhat of a surprise) and pretty soon, we were back on a train on our way to Colorado Springs.

On the train, Artemis fell asleep almost instantly, which kind of surprised me. But I guess she hadn't been sleeping much the past few nights because she was on guard-duty.

Oddly enough, I fell asleep pretty quickly also. I didn't even feel all that tired, yet…

In my dream, the girl, who I still swear that I recognized from somewhere, was speaking to Kronos.

"They're on their way my lord." She said in an almost bored tone.

"Good, and I heard you managed to collect not only Apollo's essence, but Hermes's as well." Kronos said.

"Yup, only one left I suppose." The girl said, still sounding bored.

"Yes, than you will be more powerful then the gods!" Kronos said, "You'll be able to send them back to Tartarus where they belong."

The girl sighed, "Couldn't I like, I don't know, defeat the gods without her essence. She's too annoying."

"No, you wouldn't be strong enough." Kronos hissed.

"But, I'm already stronger then the gods now!" the girl argued.

"No, you'd maybe be able to take out one or two of the gods, but the others would over power you. You would die. You are not fully immortal yet."

The girl growled, "Just let me take a swim in the River of Styx, and then I'd-"

"You bathe in the Styx, you may not be killed, but you'd still die, eventually. And once you die, the gods would become powerful enough to come back. You need the last essence to become immortal. You'll be my most powerful weapon. You'd be more powerful than Zeus's silly little master bolt, or Poseidon's trident. You'll be invincible!"

"Whatever."

I woke up sweating. Kronos was becoming more and more powerful. His 'secret weapon' or whoever she was was driving me insane. I started going through lists in my head, trying to figure out who she was. I was so intent on finding out who the girl from my nightmares was, that I almost didn't notice Artemis writhing, and crying, still asleep in the seat next to me. _Almost._

I glanced over at Artemis, and when I saw her thrashing around in the seat across from mine. My mind went into panic-overload. _What in Hades was wrong with Artemis?_

"Artemis!" I asked her, trying to shake her awake, "Lady Artemis wake up! Wake up!"

Finally she woke up. She sat up so quickly, that she almost whacked me in the head. Her silver eyes were wide with fear, and she was trembling.

"Artemis, are you okay?" I asked her, still extremely worried.

"Hermes!" she gasped…

* * *

Duh Duh Duh! Yup, that's where it's gonna end for this chapter. What happened to Artemis? Whose the girl from Percy's nighmare? Where's the master bolt? Stay tuned to find out!

LOLZ

~ArtemisFrimm

Oh, P.S. I love awesome feedback! Thanks again!


	12. Artemis's Dream

Heyy. Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I've been very extremely busy. That and the fact that I had no idea what to write for this chapter. I just thought of this today, so I hope its ok. I've loved the amazing reviews I've gotten so far, so please keep on reviewing. It seriously makes my day. Ok um I think thats about it for now, oh btw I **DO NOT** own pjo blah blah blah the usual. SO On with the chapter!!!

Luv

Artemis Frimm 3

* * *

"What?" I asked. What the heck did Hermes have to do with this? Then I remembered the dream I had just a few minutes before Artemis woke up. The girl had said she had collected the essence of Hermes. Whatever that was.

"Hermes. He was attacked, by the same creature that tried to attack us." Artemis said, still shaking.

_Oh crap_. "Um, are you sure that it wasn't just a dream?" I asked praying that it was just a dream.

Artemis shook her head, silent tears sliding down her face, "It was real."

I was pretty stunned. It must have been a pretty awful dream. I had never seen a god looking this vulnerable before. I had no idea how to react. Luckily I didn't have to. Just then we got an Iris-Message from Apollo.

Apollo looked very worried through the IM, and when he saw his 'little' sister trembling, he looked even more concerned. "Artemis are you ok?" he asked. I had never heard his voice sound so serious before.

Artemis nodded, trying to wipe away the few tears that were still falling.

Apollo still looked concerned, but continued, "That's good. I thought you might have been attacked also." He said sounding worried.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I don't know if you know this or not, but Aphrodite was attacked about a week and a half back. Artemis was blamed and that's why she was sent to Camp Half-Blood. But recently there have been more attacks. Already Athena, Ares, and Hephaestus were attacked about a month back, and just last week I was attacked." Apollo said.

"What?" Artemis gasped. Looking even more upset.

"Artemis I'm fine. I am the god of healing after all." Apollo said soothingly. Then he continued, "Anyway, so this morning we found out Hermes had been attacked. By the look of things he put up a fight too. He was a lot worse off then Aphrodite or I had been. He's still recovering."

Artemis let out a quiet whimper.

Apollo looked at his sister again, obviously concerned by her behavior. "Artemis what's wrong?" he asked.

"We were almost attacked by the same creature that attacked Hermes." She said finally recovering from her disturbing dream.

"Excuse me?" Apollo asked trying to comprehend.

As calmly as possible, Artemis began to explain the dream she had. "In the dream, I was in a hallway in Olympus, it was late, and Hermes came walking down the hallway, delivering a message. He must have heard something, because he stopped and began to look around. Then, something crept out from the shadows, almost as if it were part of the shadows. It…" Artemis's voice trailed off for a minute, as she remembered the dream, "It began attacking Hermes. Hermes was trying to fight back, but…, but the creature was to powerful. It somehow knocked Hermes unconscious, then it did something strange. It pulled out a small vial, and took some of…" Artemis's voice broke off again, but she continued on, "It took some of Hermes blood, and placed it into the vial and left." She said quietly.

Apollo was silent for a moment, obviously trying to plug this all in. I felt that I should probably speak up about the dreams I had been having for the past few days.

"I've been having some strange dreams too." I said. I told them about the dreams of Kronos and the weird creature that almost attacked us, and the girl that I swore I knew. When I was done, both Apollo and Artemis were staring at me with looks that told me that I was in trouble.

Artemis was the first one to speak up, and obviously she had recovered from her dream, "Why didn't you tell anyone about your dreams the first time you had one?" Artemis asked, obviously furious.

I shrugged, "I don't know. It didn't seem all that important at the time." I said avoiding their gazes.

Artemis rolled her eyes at me, "Typical."

Apollo looked like he wanted to say something, but unexpectedly, the train we were on slammed to a stop, sending Artemis and I flying into the seat.

Apollo looked stunned, "Uh, what happened?" he asked, the Iris-message preventing him from moving when the train stopped.

Artemis scowled, "I don't know, but I'm going to find out." she hopped off of the seat, and walked out of the compartment to find out what happened, leaving me alone with the Iris-message Apollo.

Apollo looked at me, his face deadly serious, "What'd I tell you Percy. This quest is dangerous. Percy you really need to watch out for Artemis. I know she can take care of herself, but with many of the gods being attacked, and Kronos's secret weapon and all of that," he sighed, "Just try to keep her safe." He said in a hushed voice.

I nodded, trying not to feel a sense of deja-vu. The last person to ask me to keep his sister safe on a quest was Nico, and his sister, Bianca ended up dead. I hoped, no, prayed that this time would be different.

Apollo stared at me for a moment before nodding, and turning back to his normal, un-serious self. "Good. Well I must be going. Tell my baby sister I said 'bye'." Apollo smiled, "Oh and Percy," he said before disconnecting the IM, "Don't forget about that amazing haiku I'm expecting from you when you get back to Olympus."

Of course, before I could protest, Apollo disconnected the IM. This quest was becoming very complicated, and it would only get worse.

Artemis came back, looking annoyed. "We need to get off of the train. Now." She said, glancing over her shoulder.

"Why?" I asked.

"We've got company." She said grimly.

* * *

I dunnno what'cha think? I love reviews (even more then being placed as ur fav story or author) So please REVIEW!!! YAY!!! Thanks SO muCh

~Artemis Frimm 3


	13. OMG! Unlucky number 13! I hope you like!

Heyy wassup awesome people of the internet. I have decided to update because a) I had surprisingly nothing to do and b) because I probably won't update for a while due to my next few very stressed out weeks coming up. SO yea. Hope you enjoy it. Same old disclaimer as usuall I do not own PJO blah blah blah, I kinda do own Kat, so just do me a favor and don't go stealing her. She's mine. X^P Yea well on with the story.  


* * *

"What do you mean 'company'?" I asked.

"Thorn. He must have been following us. He knows we're on our way to Colorado. We have to ditch the train." Artemis said sounding annoyed at our luck.

I nodded but realized that it was going to be kind of hard to ditch the train if the train was moving, and yea, the train was now moving again. "How do we do that?" I asked.

Artemis shrugged, "Tuck 'n' roll?" she suggested grinning at my obviously shocked look.

I really prayed she was lying, "You're kidding right?" I asked hopefully.

Artemis smirked and grabbed her bag, throwing my bag at me, "Come on Perseus."

We snuck out of our compartment. I hadn't realized how late it was. Already the sun was going down.

We reached the emergency exit door, and Artemis set to work disabling the alarm that would go off if we were to open the door. As soon as the alarm was disabled, Artemis opened the door. Unfortunately outside, instead of being dry land, there was a huge lake. Yea, not really a problem for a son-of-Poseidon, but I was pretty sure that that would be a problem for Artemis, even if she was a goddess.

I saw Artemis glance around outside to see how long it would take us to cross the lake. It would take too long. The longer we stayed here, the more likely we would be caught. We had to jump _now._

Before I could say anything, Artemis spoke up, "We'll have to jump. We can't risk being caught." She said.

I nodded in agreement, "I, uh, I could create an air bubble, you know, um, if you needed it." I said awkwardly. Believe me, it's very hard trying to offer help to a god without them getting offended.

Artemis narrowed her eyes before responding, "I'll be fine."

I nodded trying not to feel too uncomfortable, "Jump on three?" I suggested.

Artemis arched an eyebrow at me, "Ok then. Three." She said before giving me a shove off of the train into the icy water. **(Oh by the way kiddies, don't try this at home…or ever. Kay?)** I had forgotten that it was still winter up further north. Fortunately I couldn't get wet unless I wanted to so I was fine.

After I plunged into the water, I quickly swam to the surface to see where Artemis had landed. A few yards away from me, I heard Artemis splash into the water.

I swam over to where she was. I could propel us easily to shore, and before you could say 'Holy Hippocampi' we had arrived at shore.

We quickly set up camp with a nice fire to keep us warm, and Artemis told me that we were back in Illinois.

Yea back in the same freaking state we had started off this stupid quest in. I didn't get why the prophecy could never say something like "Go to Garden of the Gods, get the lightning bolt and go back to camp" Instead of sending us on a wild goose chase all the way down to Florida, when we'd just end up back in Illinois. It would have saved us at least three days.

I was hungry, and it was pretty cold up here with the icy wind blowing. I would've pulled out an extra blanket or jacket, but all of our stuff was soaked from our little 'swim'. I could tell that Artemis was even colder than I was. She was shivering slightly, and her teeth were chattering lightly. Her hair still hung wetly in a ponytail from our swim. I realized that she must be freezing. Not only did she have to deal with the wind like I did, but she didn't have the advantage of staying dry in water like I did. I kind of wondered why she didn't just snap her fingers or something and instantly dry herself. I mean she _is_ a goddess after all.

"It doesn't work like that." She said, obviously sensing my thoughts. "When a god or goddess is sentenced to Camp Half-Blood, we are forbidden to use our godly powers."

"Oh." I said. But I was kind of curious about Dionysus though. I mean, he used his 'godly powers' almost daily.

Artemis rolled her eyes, "Being stuck at camp for a hundred years has it exceptions. But seeing as I am forced to stay at camp for only a little while, I must consent to the rules." She said bitterly.

"Oh. I'm sorry," I said.

Artemis shrugged, "It's not like it's something you could change." Suddenly a particularly cold blast of wind knocked my totally-soaked bag over revealing a very surprisingly dry sweatshirt inside.

"That's odd." I said quietly.

Artemis looked thoughtful for a moment, "Where did you get that bag?" she asked.

I shrugged. I really didn't know where I had gotten it. Then I noticed a small, completely dry, label on the inside. It had a small trident symbol on it.

Artemis noticed it too, "Is that from Poseidon?" she asked.

I shrugged, "I guess so."

Artemis looked incredulous, "You mean you had no idea that your bag was a gift from your father?"

I shrugged, "I guess. But it kept everything dry. So that's good."

Artemis nodded in agreement.

I realized that I had packed two extra sweatshirts. I pulled one of them over my head, instantly feeling warmer.

I tossed the other one to Artemis who looked slightly surprised.

"What's this?" she asked her voice full of suspicion.

"To keep warm. Unless you'd rather freeze." I said.

Artemis narrowed her eyes, and studied me for a minute, suspiciously, then finally relented and pulled the warm sweatshirt over her wet clothes.

The glanced at me, her eyes still narrowed, "Thanks."

I shrugged, "No problem."

Artemis nodded, "I'll keep watch."

I agreed, and instantly fell asleep into a surprisingly dream-less slumber.

* * *

Sorry it's not super duper long, it would've been longer, but my brother has been driving me insane, telling me to get my off of the computer. Listening to him complaining for about thirty or more minutes gets old, so yea. Well hope you enjoyed. I really 3 reviews.

~Artemis Frimm


	14. Frostbite & crazy lady, not to strange

Hola! I updated much sooner than I thought possible, but I had a surprising lack of activities today, and I'm getting done with a school project tomorrow, one of the last ones for the year. So I'll be alot less busy! YAY! This chapter is kinda longish *well for me anyway* but it makes me happy! I hope you like it!

~ArtemisFrimm

* * *

I woke up to find Artemis shaking me awake. I yawned and moved to rub the sleep from my eyes when I realized that I couldn't feel my face, much less my arms. Needless to say, I began to panic.

"Oh, my gods! Oh my gods, why can't I feel my arm?" I asked my voice shaking.

Artemis, who was trying to keep the fire going, glanced over at me. She looked worried, "You can't feel your arm?" she asked, obviously trying to keep cool for my sake.

I shook my head, not trusting my own voice.

Artemis cursed silently under her breath. It was so much colder than last night that I could see her breath as she cursed.

Artemis pulled off the sweatshirt I had given her the night before and tossed it to me. "Can you put it on?" she asked.

I shrugged, and tried to pick it up realizing that I couldn't.

Artemis scowled and pulled out her dagger, and made a slit down the center of the sweatshirt so it looked more like a jacket. She pulled it around me, and the extra warmth felt good. She then held my frozen hands in hers and she began to blow on them. Her warm breath and hands felt so nice.

I began to feel a tingling feeling in my hands as I began to get some feeling back into my hands. I moved my fingers carefully. They burned badly but at least I could feel them.

Artemis pulled her hands away, "Keep blowing on your hands and keep them close to your body and out of the wind." She instructed, as she began looking through her bag for something.

I began to blow on my hands again, feeling the familiar tingling sensation. "I take it you've dealt with frostbite before?" I asked.

Artemis nodded and began to warm up some nectar over the fire, "Being an immortal hunter who is constantly in harsh weather, and having the medicine god as your brother has its advantages." she said.

Once the nectar was heated up, she handed it to me. "Drink this. It'll help." She said.

I agreed and began sipping the warm beverage. I had never tried warm nectar before, but let me tell you, it's wonderful. The familiar taste of warm blue chocolate-chip cookies smothered my taste buds. The warm drink warmed me up considerably and suddenly my hands didn't feel as if they were burning.

Artemis had been watching me, "How do you feel?" she asked, sounding slightly concerned.

"Awesome." I said.

Artemis gave a half-smile, "Good, because we have to get to the nearest train station and catch the next ride to Colorado." She looked at me, "Can you walk?" she asked.

"I think so." I said. I tried to stand up and felt a little wobbly, but managed to catch myself before I could fall to the ground and humiliate myself.

Artemis still looked worried, "On most occasions I would have waited another night for someone with frostbite to recover, but seeing as we're running out of time-"

"Seriously I'm fine." I said putting on my brave face, "I'll be fine."

Artemis still looked concerned but didn't argue. It took us a little over three hours to reach the train station.

My feet had begun to feel cold and uncomfortable, but I tried not to show it. I could tell Artemis was watching closely to make sure I didn't strain myself.

The warmth of the train station was such a relief. The walls provided a nice shelter from the wind and we were no longer walking through wet puddles and snow.

We walked up to the ticket counter to buy our tickets, and were almost scared out of our skin by the woman behind the counter. This lady looked like she could be older than dinosaurs, or at least related to one. She had a few small wisps of blue hair on her head and only about three teeth in her mouth. Her skin sagged off her face, and she had two large grisly looking warts on her face. She wore huge glasses that made her eyes look like big ugly saucers and her left eye looked clouded. She was holding a cigarette in her left hand and in her right was a vintage car magazine.

"What the hell do you want?" the lady wheezed.

Artemis just stood there staring, momentarily stunned by the woman's grotesque appearance.

Finally she snapped out of her daze, "Um, we need two tickets to Colorado." She said, still looking stunned.

The woman glared at us with her huge saucers. "Meh!" she laughed a startling laugh, "Why the hell would I sell you two little unfortunate brats train tickets to half way across the country?"

Artemis narrowed her eyes, obviously losing her patience, "Because we need the tickets and we have money." She answered coldly.

The old lady glowered at her, "Lemme guess, you ran away from home, robbed a bank, and are trying to head out west to make money by gambling." She said rudely.

Artemis looked mildly surprised by the old woman's response before answering, "Yea, that's what we're doing." she said sarcastically.

The woman smiled a hideous, nearly toothless, satisfied smile at us, "Hah! I knew it." She said smugly. "Now, why the hell would I sell you tickets you nasty little thieves?" she asked.

Artemis seemed extremely irritated, "Maybe because we, 'nasty thieves," she glanced at me, with a mixture of annoyance and indulge before continuing, "have lots of money to offer you if you give us the tickets." She said.

_Huh, somehow it never occurred to me that gods used bribes. I guess you learn something new every day._

The old woman considered this for a moment before replying, "What if I don't except bribes from nasty little children?"

Artemis scowled and pulled her dagger out from under her jacket, "Do you except a threat?" she asked menacingly, twirling the dagger in her hand.

The old woman didn't look phased, but reconsidered, "Fine, gimme the money and you can have your damn tickets." She said, not looking a bit happy about it.

Artemis grinned and almost evil smile, "That's what I thought you'd say." She said, handing the woman the money.

We got our tickets and made our way towards the train, but I could have sworn I heard the old lady saying something about 'burning in hell.' _I guess she knew her fate._

Looking back one more time at the old woman, I grinned evilly and then jogged to catch up to Artemis.

"I didn't know you used bribery." I said curiously.

Artemis shrugged looking slightly embarrassed, "I usually don't like to but sometimes growing up with Apollo and Hermes has its advantages." She said grinning slightly.

I nodded, "And the blackmail?" I asked, curious about that as well.

Artemis grinned mischievously, "That was a last resort. I absolutely hate how Ares throws around threats like they're nothing, but that lady was insane." She said.

I nodded. I felt as if I was beginning to understand Artemis a little better. For the first time in days, I didn't feel totally stressed out. Maybe things were looking up. Of course though, I was wrong, things were going to get worse. Much, much worse.

* * *

Hola! *IDK Y but I love that word...hola!* anyhoo, I hope you liked the chapter. I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do for this chapter and kinda just sat at my computer and stared at a blank screen for about half and hour before I jumped up and said, "EGAD! I KNOW WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT!" hahaha just kidding, I wouldn't say egad. but yea... sorry for rambeling , oh and repeat after me, **I, ARTEMIS FRIMM, DO NOT, OWN PJO! **HAHAH yea I'm in a good mood. GOOD NIGHT EVERY BODY! ARTEMIS FRIMM HAS LEFT THE BUILDING (not really I just really wanted to say that)

=D

~Artemis FRimm


	15. Garden of the Gods

Yea, I know I havn't updated in like forever. I hit a major writers block and today I somehow managed to scrape together a chapter. I'm coming to and end in this fanfic, so I decided to end on a double wammy. You get two chapters for the price of one! Well hope you enjoy!

~Artemis Frimm

* * *

We managed to reach Denver without any problems. Denver was just how I remembered it. The only problem was; we had to find a way to get to Garden of the Gods. We managed to get a taxi and finally we were heading towards the end of our quest. It felt pretty good.

We rested a little bit in the taxi on the way to Garden of the Gods. I was exhausted and even though she would probably never admit it, Artemis probably was too.

About an hour later we reached Garden of the Gods. It was just as I remembered it from when I escaped the Labyrinth. Gargantuan orange-ish red rocks jutted up out of the ground, and could be seen from a few miles away. Artemis leaned over to look out my window. "That one over there," she said pointing to one of the larger of the rock formations, "That's called the kissing camels." She said.

I squinted my eyes, trying to see the 'camels'. In my opinion they looked like two velociraptors connected at the mouth. I didn't say this though. "Where do you think the lightning bolt is?" I whispered so the cab driver wouldn't hear us.

"Probably on top of the kissing camel one." Artemis answered.

I nodded and then realized that we had a small dilemma, "How do we get up there?" I asked.

Artemis shrugged, "Climb I guess." She said.

Caught up in thought, neither of us had realized that we had arrived at the park. Finally the cab driver gave an annoyed grunt, "You two gonna get out and pay any time soon? 'Cause you know I've got other places to be." He scoffed.

Artemis pulled out the money and handed it to him, "Sorry, and thank you." She said, hopping out of the car.

I followed her out and no sooner had I shut the door did the cab driver speed off, almost running me over.

Artemis frowned, "Huh, I guess he was in a hurry." She said.

We walked toward the large rocks and stared up at the steep cliff. It would be pretty darn hard to get up there.

"Hey there they are!" someone shouted from behind us.

Whirling around we saw two large goonish-looking men coming our way.

Artemis frowned again, "Well I guess this is where we start climbing." She said as she raced toward the rock and began climbing.

I followed her and needless to say I was a lot less agile then she was. She managed to find hand-holds out of nothing while I was moving slowly so I didn't fall.

The creepy dudes were still calling for us to come down there. Obviously they didn't realize that us demigods don't follow orders from creatures like them. I guess they didn't get the memo.

We kept climbing for a while, and for a few minutes I honestly thought that they had given up in trying to get us. I thought that until they started shooting arrows at us. Thick, crudely made arrows began shooting at us. We had almost reached the top without getting hit. Suddenly, Artemis let out a gasp of pain and began to fall. I prepared myself to catch her just in case, but she managed to catch herself, and scrambled awkwardly up to the top.

When I reached the top of the "kissing camels", the first thing I noticed was one of the arrows laying on the rocky ground, covered in what looked like ichor… a lot of it.

I began panicking, and I looked around for Artemis. She was leaning against a rock, her face looked pained.

"Lady Artemis, are you alright?" I asked.

I realized that she had her hand clamped to the lower part of her knee. She pulled her hand back for a second, revealing a deep, circular gash below her knee. She was bleeding badly, and for a moment it looked as if she would pass out.

"What happened?" I asked feeling horrified.

"One of those trolls had very good aim." She gasped, "I'm fine, we need to keep going." She said. She took a step forward, but instantly fell, unable to stand on her leg.

I caught her before she hit the hard rocky floor. She was almost in too much pain to be embarrassed. I set her down on the ground gently.

Her face had turned pale and she began putting pressure back onto her wound.

I looked around for her bag, and found it by the edge of the cliff. I grabbed it and began searching through it, looking for the Liquid Fire.

I finally found it. I put some of the greenish liquid onto my finger. Tentatively I rubbed some of the liquid onto her wound. She let out a gasp of pain, and I noticed silvery tears forming in her eyes. I found myself relieved that she didn't shove me like I had shoved her with the Liquid Fire. I had a feeling that if she did, I would've fallen off the cliff.

"Are you ok?" I asked her.

"Yea, I'm fine." She said quietly.

The wound was closing up. Not nearly as fast as mine had, but it was closing up none-the-less.

"So where's the master bolt anyway?" I asked.

Artemis shrugged, and tried to stand up; she winced in pain, but managed to stand.

Artemis looked around for a minute, "It should be here." She said looking confused.

I shrugged, suddenly, my head felt dizzy, before I realized what had happened, I had passed out.

_I was still standing on top of the kissing, but Artemis was no longer there. Instead, I heard the voice of Kronos. "Well done Mr. Jackson. You've gotten far. You've also done me a great favor." He said his voice mocking me._

_ "What are you talking about?" I asked._

_ "You've helped me complete my weapon. You, who saved the gods in the last war, just helped me destroy them. As your prize, you can have the Mater Bolt back. I never needed it. It was the bait. Enjoy." He said._

Suddenly, I felt myself falling off of the "kissing camels" vaguely I heard Artemis screaming from somewhere above me.

I passed out again.

* * *

Well that's this chapter. I hated this chapter, it took over three(?) yea i think three weeks to write this. So here you go hope you enjoyed. Now onto the final chapter.

~Artemis Frimm


	16. Final Chapter

Heyy, I just wanted to thank all of my awesome readers for following me this far. You've all been very kind, (some potty-mouthish) but very kind. It's been a pleasure writing for you all, and you'll have to tell me whether or no you want me to make this a series thing. Once again thank you so much. I hope you enjoy the final chapter.

~ArtemisFrimm

* * *

When I woke up, I found myself in a pleasant, sunny room. I had been changed out of my old clothes and was wearing some flannel pajamas. I tried to sit up, but felt a sharp pain in my right arm. It was in a sling. _What happened?_ I wondered.

Suddenly a girl in her mid-teens walked in. She had shoulder length shiny blonde hair with multi-colored highlights. Her eyes seemed to change colors in the light. One minute they were pink, the next they seemed a peachy orange color, and so on. She smiled when she saw that I was awake.

"Ah, Perseus Jackson, good to see you are awake. You took quite a fall." She said kindly.

"Who are you?" I asked, I didn't mean to be rude, but I was kind of confused as to what had happened at Garden of the Gods.

The girl laughed, "I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself; I'm Iris, goddess of rainbows and messengers." She said.

I nodded, "Oh, and where am I?" I asked.

I noticed that Iris's eyes flickered with unease for a minute but it passed, "You're in Olympus. You've been unconscious for about three days." She said.

"What? What day is it?" I asked, beginning to panic.

"December 21st." She informed me.

I began to panic. We had failed. We hadn't found the Master Bolt; the gods would start a war, right when Kronos was preparing an attack.

Iris noticed my anxiety, "Don't worry Perseus. You found the Master Bolt. It is safe now." She said.

"But how?" I asked.

"Well, when you fell, Lady Artemis said that she found the Master Bolt in your hands. It power was so strong, and your grip was so tight on it, that you broke most of your arm and hand." Iris explained, "Apollo healed you as best as he could, but your arm was harder to fix."

"What about Artemis?" I asked, "What happened to her?"

Iris smiled, "Apollo fixed her up as well."

"What about the actual lightning thief, did you ever catch him or her?" I asked.

Iris shook her head, "We didn't find anyone. The gods are debating that problem now." Suddenly her eyes widened, "Oh no, I forgot, I was supposed to bring you to the Council meeting. You were supposed to be there five minutes ago!" she said.

Careful as to not injure my broken arm any further, she pulled me out of the comfy bed and began herding me towards the Council of the Gods meeting.

"Can't I change first?" I asked as some minor gods laughed at me as we passed.

"No time for that now." Iris said, quickening her pace.

We walked into the council room, where the gods were all seated in their large thrones.

Zeus looked slightly annoyed, as did some of the other gods like Ares, Demeter, Hera, and Hades. Others looked pretty happy to see me; Hermes saw me and gave me a quick wink, Apollo looked past me and was staring at Iris, he was smiling at her, and she was blushing slightly. My dad was watching me; his smile told me that he had been worried. Aphrodite smiled and waved at me, causing me to blush. I couldn't that seeing her still made me blush. Artemis was watching me; her face was emotionless.

"Iris, why is he late?" Zeus asked impatiently.

Iris gave a hasty bow, "Sorry your lordship. I was trying to fill him in on what had happened after he passed out." She said.

"Is that why he is still wearing pajamas?" Artemis asked with mild amusement. I felt my face burn, for the second time that day.

Iris nodded, "Yea, sorry about that." She said.

Zeus sighed, "Thank you Iris. You can go now." He said. Iris gave another hasty bow and left. He turned his attention back to me, "Now, what to do with you?" he mused.

"We get to kill him right?" Ares asked, "Ya know, since he was the lightning thief and all."

"We will not kill my son for returning your weapon Zeus." My father said to Zeus.

"Technically, he didn't return it, Lady Artemis did, but for once I agree that he should be spared this time." Athena spoke up.

Zeus nodded, "You're right I suppose. Of course he did disobey me when I told him that he could only fly once." Zeus mused.

"That was my fault father. I told him that it would be fine if we flied once more." Artemis spoke up.

"I suppose that's true." Zeus nodded in agreement.

Aphrodite coughed something that sounded kind of like "Daddy's girl", but Zeus ignored it.

"What if he really did steal the Master Bolt though?" Ares asked obviously mad that he wasn't going to get to pummel me, "We'd be letting him off just like that!" he argued.

"When could he have stolen it?" Apollo asked now paying attention now that Iris was gone.

"Maybe he didn't." Hera said, "How do we know that it wasn't our dear little Artemis that stole it?" she asked, shooting a glare at Artemis.

Artemis glared at Hera, "Lady Hera, you know as well as I do that it is against the Ancient Laws to steal another god's symbol of power." She said threateningly.

Hera waved her had dismissing the fact, "Laws can be broken dear." She said.

"Lady Hera, Artemis was at Camp when the Master Bolt was stolen." Athena pointed out.

"She could've stolen it for revenge." Hera said, "Wd don't know what she's capable of, after all she did attack Aphrodite." She said.

I noticed Aphrodite's face turn pale, a frown forming on her face, "I never said it was her. I said that it _looked_ the same size as her. It could've been someone else." She said.

Artemis seemed to realize something, "What was the person wearing? The person that attacked you."

"It was wearing all black. I couldn't see a face." Aphrodite said.

Artemis glanced at me; obviously we were both thinking the same thing.

"When we were in Chicago, we were almost attacked by a similar creature." Artemis said slowly.

Hermes seemed to freeze for a moment, "I was attacked by the same thing." He said.

The gods began looking around at each other, muttering nervously to each other.

That's when I remembered something that Kronos told me before I passed out, "When I passed out, Kronos told me something about a secret weapon. That it was complete, and that he would be able to use it against the gods." I said.

Zeus thought for a moment, "He was manipulating you Perseus." He said.

"But father," Artemis gasped, "this isn't something that should be taken lightly. We need to prepare for battle. Ready ourselves! If not, then we could end up being attacked without warning!" Artemis argued.

Zeus looked at her sternly, "We will save that for another day. For now, our meeting is closed." He said.

Suddenly I found myself at Camp Half-Blood. I couldn't believe that Zeus had dismissed the fact that they could be under attack at any moment. Gods he was so stubborn.

I decided to take a walk to clear my head. I would tell Chiron that I was back later. I walked into the woods, not really sure as to where I was going. Without realizing it, I had run into Katrina.

She smiled at me, "Percy! You're back!" she said, her usually naturally cheery voice sounded fake. I also noticed that she seemed to be glowing.

"Kat, are you okay?" I asked her.

She smiled, "I'm fine, unfortunately though I have to leave Camp Half-Blood." She said, her eyes slightly sad, but excited at the same time.

I felt confused, "Why?" I asked.

She smiled at me, "I can't believe it Perseus Jackson. You still haven't figured it out yet. I gave you so many clues and you still haven't figured it out. I can't believe I actually thought you were smart." She said.

I felt offended and confused at the same time. What was she talking about? "What do you mean?" I asked her slowly.

She smiled at me, "Well you see Percy Jackson. I'm Kronos's 'secret weapon'." She said.

I felt as if I had been slapped in the face, "What are you talking about?" I asked.

She sighed, "Wow, you really are a dumbbell. I'm Kronos's secret weapon. I'm the one who sent you on the quest! I was the one who attacked all of the gods!" she laughed, "Percy Jackson,… I'm the lightning thief."

**The END?**

* * *

So yup... that's it. So what do you think, should I make this a series or should i just make this one of those stories that ends at a cliff-hanger? Well either way I hope you've enjoyed. It's been an honor and a pleasure.

~Artemis Frimm.


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